Trump breaks silence on nationwide ground stop, demands more money for FAA infrastructure from Congress

U.S. President Donald Trump broke his silence on Sunday regarding the nationwide ground stop that disrupted air travel starting Friday afternoon. According to CBC News and Global News, Trump used the incident to urge Congress to provide funding to fully upgrade the nation's air traffic control system. In a social media post, Trump stated that his administration has begun upgrading the system but argued the work should not be done in "drips and drabs," calling the current 50-year-old system "ridiculous."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attributed the ground stop to the failure of Congress and his predecessors to adequately fund the aging air traffic control infrastructure. In an interview with CNN's “State of the Union” on Sunday, Duffy characterized previous funding as a down payment on a broader overhaul. Global News reports that while a Republican-controlled Congress approved $12.5 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration as part of a tax cut package last year, Duffy has repeatedly called for more support for the system.

Brief written by urgent.news from CBC News, The Hill, Global News — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.