Local Columnist Blamed Trump For Future ‘Crashes’ — Just Hours Before Helicopter-Airliner Collision

Longtime columnist, author, and prominent political science Professor Tom Schaller ripped President Donald Trump and blamed him for future plane crashes — just hours before the deadly airplane-helicopter collision over the Potomac.

The nation was stunned when an American Airlines flight with over 60 people aboard collided with a BlackHawk Army Helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport at 8:48 pm Wednesday night.

Trump reacted with a series of social media posts, one of which speculated about the disaster even as rescue operations were in full swing. Just hours after the crash, Trump tried to assign blame for the crash, writing:

The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!

Elsewhere on social media, others posted tweets suggesting Trump could be to blame by referencing recent White House announcements, including one post from CNN’s Bakari Sellers that he quickly deleted and apologized for.

But Schaller — Professor of Political Science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a prominent author and commentator — went viral for a tweet slamming Trump over his handling of air traffic safety that he posted hours before the collision.

On Wednesday morning — 12 hours before the crash — Schaller wrote:

An FAA employee I know confirms agency already lacks sufficient air traffic controllers. The so-called “buyouts” and other attacks on federal employees won’t help.

Remember that fact when the flight delays (crashes?) commence and Trumpers start falsely blaming DEI or Biden.

As Schaller noted, those buyouts haven’t taken effect yet, but the eerie timing of the post caused it to go viral after the crash.

The professor spent the hours after the post fending off critics and conspiracy theorists:

For those pegging me as some deep state insider, I merely shared something told to me by a person who works at the FAA after I asked if OMB memo/personnel actions might affect FAA effectiveness.

The crash may have zero to do with stuff Trump admin did this week. I don’t know. https://t.co/lcHZFF55ty

— Thomas Schaller (@schaller67) January 30, 2025

Another clarification, especially to those attacking me: Note time stamp on the original tweet—I posted it 14 hours *before* the crash. I’m not piling on ex post.

Even if I tweeted 14 days or months b4, still tragic. And BTW I live in DC; not sure yet I don’t know any victims. https://t.co/lcHZFF55ty

— Thomas Schaller (@schaller67) January 30, 2025

That said, (1) purely coincidence tragic crash happened 13h after I tweeted; (2) look like training helo copter error, and who knows, maybe mechanical failure/pilot had medical event; (3) so soon after Trump announcement don’t blame new admin, my point was longer-term effect 2/2

— Thomas Schaller (@schaller67) January 30, 2025

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