U.S. President Donald Trump attends a maternal health event in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 11, 2026. REUTERS Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump has been quiet on the nationwide ground stop on Friday evening. Secretaries Sean Duffy and Markwayne Mullin were the administration officials sent out to speak to cameras over the weekend as a ground stop fueled chaos in airports across the nation.
It prompted CNN host and White House reporter Kaitlan Collins to question where the president is.
"You might have noticed that President Trump has been uncharacteristically silent since that rare nationwide ground stop yesterday that left thousands of Americans stranded at airports across the country." she said in a quick video for CNN.
"The president has been posting on Truth Social. He commented on Gavin Newsom, the riverboat crash in New Orleans, and also, what he described as a bipartisan effort to revive the entertainment industry," she continued. "But he has yet to say a single word about this nationwide ground stop and what led the FAA to put all of these planes on the ground while they fixed an issue to repair the nation's aviation system."
She cited Duffy, who claimed he's been on the phone with the president and insisted the president wants to put the full force of the government behind fixing the problem.
“This is what President Trump does,” Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said in the Friday news conference. “He puts leaders in place, and he allows them to lead. They even ask, you know, why is the president not talking? It’s because he’s allowed Secretary Duffy and us to go out there and explain to you what took place.”
Duffy "demanded $50 billion more from Congress to fix it, despite questions that reporters raised to him about how Republicans have been in control of Congress for the last two years, with, of course, a Republican president in the Oval Office," Collins continued.
She noted just how rare it is to not hear from Trump on something that is so significant.
"But the White House just issued a travel photo lid on Saturday, which means we don't expect any public appearances from the president," Collins closed.
The New York Times similarly found it odd that Trump has been out of sight "as crisis circled the skies."
As of publication, Trump has commented on Hannibal Lecter, but he still hasn't said a word about the ground stop.
The Times noted that when asked about where the president is, Duffy replied, “Well, the two of us have talked to him. He’s in. I’ve talked to him on the phone. I’ve talked to him in the Oval. So has Markwayne.”
The report also said that since Trump lost so significantly during the 2026 midterms, he's "been keeping somewhat of a lower profile."
They also cited former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who wrote on X, “While everyone was freaking out thinking we are under some sort of attack, Trump didn’t even bother to address the nation.”
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