WASHINGTON (WDCW/NEXSTAR) – President Donald Trump held a briefing Thursday morning on the deadly collision between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter over the Potomac River.

The briefing began just before 11:30 a.m. EST, with Trump requesting a moment of silence “for the victims and their families.”

The president called Wednesday night’s crash an “hour of anguish for our nation” and a “dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital, and our nation’s history.”

He also thanked the first responders (and the Coast Guard “in particular”) and offered support to the families of victims.

“On behalf of the first lay, myself, and 340 million Americans, our hearts are shattered alongside theirs,” he said.

Trump then appeared to veer from his prepared remarks, claiming that he and his officials “have some very strong opinions and ideas” about why the accident happened, claiming he would “state those” before an official report is released. He also appeared to blame the helicopter, and not the pilot of the jet, for the collision.

Moments later, he began criticizing the quality of the air traffic controllers under the Obama administration, as well as the hiring policies of the Biden administration, appearing to blame them for workers who lacked “intellect.”

He further blasted Pete Buttigieg, the previous Secretary of Transportation, calling him a “disaster,” at one point using the word “bulls—” when discussing Buttigieg.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance also spoke briefly. Hegseth and Vance used the opportunity to blast DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programs.

“The era of DEI is gone at the defense department, and we need the best and brightest,” Hegseth said, suggesting that hiring will be “colorblind and merit-based” when it comes to air traffic controllers and the government as a whole.

Trump was later asked by a reporter how he could know if an employee hired under a DEI initiative had something to do with the crash.

“Because I have common sense,” he responded.

Trump, just after midnight on Wednesday, had previously said on social media that the crash “looks like it should have been prevented.”

“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,” he wrote.

“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,” he continued.

In a separate post, he wrote, “What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!”

On Wednesday night, the plane, operated by PSA Airlines (a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines), was getting ready to land at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) when it collided with the United States Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.

Flight 5342 departed from Wichita, Kansas, and was carrying 60 passengers along with four crew members. Three soldiers were onboard the army helicopter.

At a press conference on Thursday morning, officials confirmed that dozens of bodies had been pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River, where the downed aircraft was located upside down in three sections.

Crews were still searching for other casualties but did not believe there were any survivors, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years.

“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief, in the nation’s capital. “We don’t believe there are any survivors.”

Among those presumed to be dead are figure skaters and coaches (and family members) who were traveling home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championship in Kansas, Nexstar’s WDCW reported.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov further confirmed that Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the pairs title at the 1994 World Championships and competed at the Winter Olympics twice, were passengers.

The crash remains under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board and the United States Army.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.