Trump blames Biden administration for FAA nationwide ground stop and aging air traffic system
President Donald Trump on Sunday made his first public comments on Friday’s nationwide Federal Aviation Administration ground stop, blaming the Biden administration for making an “old and broken” air traffic control system worse and urging Congress to fund modernization quickly. The halt lasted more than four hours, disrupted flights across the country, contributed to thousands of cancellations and delays, and affected hundreds of thousands of passengers.
“The Biden Administration was an FAA disaster,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, adding that “big money” had been spent unwisely. He said his administration has “the knowledge and plan for the Flight Control Systems” but that Congress must “give the money, FAST!”
Congress approved $12.5 billion for the FAA last year as part of a major tax and spending package. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said the aging system still needs more money for a broader overhaul. The FAA said equipment became unstable after a high volume of data flooded its network, that contractor work at one site may be related, and that the underlying cause remains under investigation. Nationwide FAA ground stops are rare; before the November 2026 shutdown, the last two followed the Sept. 11 attacks and a brief FAA computer outage in January 2023.
Continue in the app — vote & join in ➔