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Trump blames Biden for US FAA ground stop, urges Congress to fund air traffic control system upgrade
Trump blames Biden for FAA ground stop disrupting US flights, urges Congress to fund air traffic system upgrade.
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US President Donald Trump on Sunday blamed the previous Biden administration for the nationwide flight disruption caused by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday. He accused the Biden administration of making the country's already old and outdated air traffic control system worse.
Trump made his first public comments about the nationwide FAA ground stop since the incident took place on Friday. He also urged Congress to quickly approve more money to modernise the country's air traffic control system, according to CNBC.
FAA ground stop disrupts flights across US
The nationwide ground stop lasted for more than four hours on Friday. It disrupted flights across the US, leading to thousands of flight cancellations and delays and affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Trump calls Biden's FAA handling a 'disaster'
Deep Dive
Trump criticised the Biden administration in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. He called the previous administration's handling of the FAA a "disaster", according to Trump's Truth Social post.
Trump also accused the Biden administration of spending large amounts of money without using it properly. He said the government had made an already old and broken air traffic control system even worse.
Trump asks Congress for FAA funding
The US president said his administration has the knowledge and a plan to improve the country's flight control systems. However, he stressed that the government needs Congress to approve the required funding quickly, according to CNBC.
Congress had already approved $12.5 billion in funding for the FAA last year. The money was included in a major tax and spending package. However, the funding may not be enough for a complete modernisation of the country's ageing air traffic control system. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said that the FAA will need additional money for a wider overhaul of the system.
FAA investigates cause of nationwide ground stop
The FAA said the latest disruption happened after a large amount of data flooded its network, making its equipment unstable. This affected the agency's ability to operate its systems normally. The FAA also said that work being carried out by a contractor at one of its sites may be connected to the disruption. However, the agency has not confirmed the exact reason behind the incident, according to CNBC.
The underlying cause of the nationwide ground stop remains under investigation. The FAA is still examining what went wrong with its systems and what led to the widespread flight disruption.
Nationwide FAA ground stops are rare in the US. Before the November 2026 incident, the last two such disruptions took place after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and during a brief FAA computer outage in January 2023.
The latest incident has once again raised concerns about the condition of the US air traffic control system and the need to upgrade its ageing technology. Trump's comments have also put pressure on Congress to approve additional funding for the modernisation effort.
