Leavitt Responds To Report About ATC

By
Gregory McMullen
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The Associated Press is having a meltdown, and it’s all because the Trump administration dared to enforce its own naming conventions. That’s right—the AP is refusing to use the official name “Gulf of America,” and as a result, the White House has revoked its special access to the Oval Office and Air Force One. It still has a seat in the briefing room, but the message is clear: you don’t get to claim journalistic credibility while actively spreading misinformation.

Now, you might think the AP would take a step back, maybe reevaluate its approach. But nope—they’re doing what they always do when Trump holds them accountable: they’re doubling down, throwing objectivity out the window, and ramping up the anti-Trump hysteria.

Case in point? The AP’s latest hit piece trying to link Trump to a Canadian aircraft accident. You read that right. Pentagon reporter Tara Copp has apparently decided that everything bad in the world is Trump’s fault. How does she make this leap? By suggesting that FAA staffing changes under Trump are putting America’s entire air safety network at risk.

She goes so far as to mention FAA technicians in Hawaii working on early warning radar systems as proof that Trump is practically causing planes to drop out of the sky. Never mind the fact that zero air traffic controllers or critical safety personnel were let go. Never mind that the FAA, bloated with 45,000 employees, cut less than 400 probationary hires—people who had been on the job for less than a year. The facts don’t matter when there’s a narrative to push.

And then there’s the most ridiculous claim in the article: that an FAA employee named Spitzer-Stadtlander was fired because he criticized Tesla and Twitter. Apparently, he posted anti-Musk comments on Facebook, and a DOGE Facebook account reacted with a laughing emoji. Shortly afterward, he was let go. His conclusion? That Musk and the Trump administration are personally monitoring FAA workers on social media and purging critics.

There’s just one small problem with this theory: DOGE doesn’t have a Facebook page. Some random person set up a page named “DOGE,” but the actual Department of Government Efficiency is a little too busy restructuring the federal government to be trolling FAA employees on social media.

But does that stop the AP from running with the story? Of course not. This is what modern journalism looks like—entitled, emotional reporters who mistake their personal grievances for breaking news.

Thankfully, Sean Duffy brought the receipts:

  • Mayor Pete Buttigieg spent four years ignoring the air traffic controller shortage and instead used the FAA as a slush fund for “green new scam” nonsense.
  • Over 90% of the workforce under Buttigieg was working from home—including him. The building was practically empty.
  • Trump’s administration cut fewer than 400 employees—none of them air traffic controllers or critical safety personnel.

So no, Trump didn’t “gut” the FAA, and no, he didn’t cause a Canadian plane crash. What’s actually happening is that the AP is angry about losing its VIP access, so it’s throwing tantrums in print.

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