The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Psaki: The Trump administration fails the 3 a.m. phone call test
07 May 2025
Jen Psaki looks at how concerns about inexperienced and unqualified members of Donald Trump's cabinet are coming to fruition as crises develop in national air traffic as well as national security and Trump's secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, are struggling to meet the demands of their positions.
Full Episode
Okay, when we asked Pete Buttigieg, who Chris just mentioned is going to be our first guest, he's coming up shortly, but when we asked him to come on our first show just a couple weeks ago, I kind of thought we'd mainly talk about politics, and we definitely will. We will talk a lot about politics. He's got a lot to say about it.
What I didn't realize at the time is he would also kind of be the perfect person to talk to at this moment for a very different reason. I mean, just hours ago, we learned that last night, just after midnight at San Francisco International Airport, two United Airlines planes clipped each other's wings. They were still in the tarmac when it happened. Thankfully, nobody, of course, was hurt.
But it, of course, isn't an isolated incident. I mean, it comes on the heels of yesterday's news that a radar failure left the air traffic controllers managing Newark Airport operating blind. without radar or radio communication for 90 seconds last week, 90 seconds.
And by the way, NBC also reported late today that air traffic control at Newark lost contact with pilots at least two other times since August, not an isolated incident either. But that latest incident that I just mentioned that occurred last week was so bad that it led to multiple FAA employees being placed on trauma leave. Of course, why wouldn't it? It's incredibly traumatic.
But given how out of control this all feels and how scared not just the air traffic controllers, but many people out there are to fly right now, I keep thinking about an ad that ran during the 2008 primary campaign, which you also may remember.
It's 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. But there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call. Whether it's someone who already knows the world's leaders, knows the military, someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world. It's 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep.
Who do you want answering the phone?
Now, obviously, that ad at the time, 15 years ago, was meant to paint a relative political newcomer, Barack Obama, as someone who was totally unprepared to deal with the middle of the night calls when a crisis hits. And to be fair, it is a fundamental question that everybody should consider about any president and the people they surround themselves with.
And I keep thinking about that ad because right now, the guy sitting in the Oval Office picked this guy to answer the middle of the night calls about what is happening in our skies.
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