Are Trump Officials Living In An Alternate Reality?

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin started his White House news conference on the nationwide air traffic control meltdown with a little quip about it being Friday the 13th.

Oh, yes, ha-ha. I guess a little gallows humor is okay.

He quickly pivoted to what he evidently believed was the most important point to share with an anxious and, for those caught in the disruption, angry public: how well the moment reflected on President Donald Trump and his team.

“This is what the leadership of President Trump looks like by the organization and the team he put together,” Mullin stated. “We’re built to handle crises like this and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Trump in the days following last week’s GOP midterm debacle made clear through his rhetoric and personnel moves that this drubbing from voters would not be occasion for self-critique or self-correction.

The news conference with Mullin and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy raised something more fundamental: Do they have elementary self-awareness? What planet are they on?

Not the same one occupied by anyone traveling by air over the past 24 hours or waiting on a loved one who was, a group which obviously includes millions of people who count themselves part of Trump’s depleted pool of supporters. These people were looking for the maximum amount of transparency and precision about what was going on, even while understanding that in the midst of a crisis answers are often fragmentary and contingent. Above all they are looking for reassurance that responsible people are responding responsibly — doing more than wildly improvising and groping for passably plausible talking points.

Instead, the performance by two top appointees was a vivid window into the late stages of Trumpism. The familiar signatures — bluster, boasting, blame-casting — were not so much triggering, as in the old days, as the height of irrelevance.

The travel mess will presumably sort itself out over the next few days. The dynamics on display Friday night, if they continue, suggest that Trump in his final two years could become even more isolated from political reality.

As it happened, I had a pretty decent vantage point from which to watch the evening drama: a comfortable bed at the DoubleTree Hotel at JFK airport. Was glad to have it for four hundred bucks after my flight was canceled and at a time when other nearby alternatives were sold out or demanding a grand. I was not especially hacked off by the disruption and still am not. Stuff happens — I am not missing a wedding or funeral or important business meeting. This is in contrast to dozens of people I witnessed — swearing or sobbing, trying to juggle toddlers and infants or elderly relatives in wheelchairs with a phone to their ears.

These scenes were the context in which I heard Duffy, who dominated the news conference compared to the somewhat less prepossessing Mullin. His style was crisp, emphatic, even impressive; the substance of his words was murky, self-justifying, unpersuasive.

As a non-expert, count me as broadly sympathetic to Duffy’s main argument: An advanced nation should have cutting-edge technology in its air control system, not be driving around in a 1980s jalopy that sputtered to a stall this week. Still, it’s unlikely his style of argument did much to advance his cause.

One problem with the news conference was vagueness. Anyone who has tried to bull their way through an oral exam with only partial preparation could recognize the signs of winging it. There were imprecise references to “instability” and “inconsistencies” in radar and communications with airplanes, decorated with technical jargon about what this meant for “TRACONs” (short for terminal radar approach control). But no clear layman’s explanation of why this happened or what it meant in practical terms in the sky and on the ground. Nor was there useful practical advice for stranded travelers. Instead, there were general assertions that everyone is safe because the administration is on the case. It was reminiscent of the closing scene in “Animal House” when the Faber College homecoming parade descends into wild chaos and Kevin Bacon as the young ROTC soldier vainly yells, “Remain calm! All is well!”

The big problem, however, was one that is emblematic of Trump-era politics: The content shifted immediately to argument and assertion. It is a style that suggests reality can be created, or decisively shaped, by self-confident proclamation.

Duffy said the system broke down because Congress has been dilatory in approving money for building a new system with the speed and intensity that circumstances require.

Okay, but wasn’t the Republican Party, firmly under Trump’s thumb, in control of Congress for the first two years of Trump’s second term (as well half of his first term)? Duffy noted that the One Big Beautiful Bill provided $12.5 billion for modernization but that the administration has signaled previously that it wants $30 billion. On the spot, Duffy proclaimed, “I want $50 billion.” He added: “And by the way, if you look at how much money Congress spends — Peter, you’ve covered Congress, they waste a lot of money. And what’s more important than having an air traffic control system that actually works?”

Anyone who follows Washington even a little knows that Trump does indeed have great interest in infrastructure. Are we to believe that he has been equally interested in or committed to an improved air traffic control system as he has been to a new White House ballroom or a planned “Triumphal Arch” adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery?

For that matter, where are these numbers coming from: Why 50 billion rather than 75 billion or 40 billion? Why does he have confidence that of the 12.5 billion, “We are spending it and spending it well,” when it seems to be problems in the transition from old system to new, or potentially a contractor’s error, that caused the recent breakdown?

“President Trump is a builder; he’s going to build this network and deliver for the American people,” Duffy said. “But the president can’t deliver for America unless the Congress delivers the money to make it happen.” Notably, new White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, who Duffy praised in his opening remarks, was sitting in the briefing room.

The two made their case with a conviction that recalled Elizabeth Holmes in the documentary, “You Can See Everything.” The most important part of promoting a narrative in an everything-is-debatable age of politics is being fully immersed in your own reality.

Mullin finished the news conference where he started, with praise for the boss. The fact that he and Duffy were making remarks, not Trump himself, was more evidence of his great gifts of leadership and delegation.

“He’s the greatest president we’ve had,” Mullin repeated. “You’ve never had a builder and leader, like President Trump, lead this nation and have a vision and put the team together.”

I encountered plenty of people on my weekend travels looking for reassurance and leadership, but these words were not quite responsive to what they wanted to hear.