Tragedy struck Wednesday night when a commercial passenger jet collided with a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C., sending both aircraft and everyone on board crashing into the icy Potomac River.

President Donald Trump announced first thing Thursday morning that he'd been "fully briefed" about what had occurred, according to local NBC affiliate WBAL-TV.

Trump also held a press conference where he shared with reporters some of what he'd learned as well as some of his opinions on what he believes caused the incident and suspects will be confirmed and exposed by ongoing investigations.

Fatal aircraft collision near airport

Around 9 pm Wednesday, a small American Airlines passenger jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members went down into the Potomac after it collided in mid-air with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three crew members.

The airliner was descending on its approach to land at the nearby airport while the helicopter was flying a training mission along the river, and it remains unclear how or why the flight paths of those two craft intersected at the same altitude over the river.

Emergency responders from various agencies at all levels of government immediately arrived on the scene but the frantic initial attempts to rescue potential survivors soon transformed into more solemn efforts to recover bodies from among the floating and submerged debris and wreckage of the commercial jet and military helicopter.

Trump's reaction on social media

In a Thursday morning Truth Social post, President Trump said, "I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport. May God Bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise."

Just nine hours earlier, shortly after the incident occurred, Trump laid out in a Truth Social post some of the information that was immediately known about the crash and posed a series of questions that many Americans likely shared and investigators would undoubtedly be asking as well.

"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," Trump wrote in his initial reaction. "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."

"This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!" he added.

Trump has theories on who and what might be to blame

Later Thursday morning, President Trump held a 35-minute press conference at the White House in which he shared with reporters some of what had already been determined by investigators along with some of his theories on what might have been contributing factors or proximate causes of the fatal incident.

Trump raised the possibility that incompetence and inexperience on the part of air traffic controllers might be to blame and pointed to an executive order he'd signed just days earlier to improve aviation safety by ending the prior Biden-Harris administration's policies focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in hiring and a renewed focus on merit, intellect, and capability for such demanding jobs.

The president also seemed to indicate that the helicopter pilot and crew may have been at fault and repeatedly questioned how it came to be that the two aircraft ended up crossing paths at the same altitude.

In addition to the president, remarks were also made by Vice President JD Vance, Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy, and Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth, all of whom assured the American people that the incident would be fully investigated and the truth of what occurred would be fully revealed in due time.