Pete Buttigieg, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of the recent fatal crash of an American Airlines plane, highlighting the safety record during his tenure.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg hit back after President Trump criticized the Biden administration and diversity initiatives in the aftermath of a deadly midair collision outside

Pete Buttigieg, former transportation secretary and former South Bend mayor, called Trump's comments during today's press briefing "despicable."

President Donald Trump slammed former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for running the agency "into the ground" following the D.C. plane crash disaster.

"Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch," Buttigieg wrote on X.

Trump used a White House briefing about Wednesday night’s deadly collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter over the Potomac River to rail against the Obama and Biden

Emergency teams will continue efforts to retrieve the bodies of those who died when a passenger jet and helicopter collided.

Americans turn to their leaders for solace in times of mourning. Donald Trump has used national tragedies to make political points or demean critics.

President Donald Trump began his White House briefing with a moment of silence and a prayer for the victims of Wednesday’s crash at Reagan National Airport.

U.S. authorities said on Thursday it was not yet clear why a regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter collided at a Washington airport, killing 67 people in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years.