Trump stuns with angry threat against air traffic controllers: 'Didn’t step up' to fight Dems
National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) President Nick Daniels speaks during a press conference next to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to discuss the impact of the government shutdown on air safety workers and travel at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 24, 2025. REUTERS/Rachel Wisniewski
As thousands of flights have been canceled due to the historic government shutdown, leaving airports without air traffic controllers, President Donald Trump on Monday issued a scathing threat — and then a bribe — to those federal workers, Newsweek reports.
"All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!!" Trump wrote Monday morning on Truth Social.
"Anyone who doesn’t will be substantially 'docked.' For those Air Traffic Controllers who...were GREAT PATRIOTS, and didn’t take ANY TIME OFF for the 'Democrat Shutdown Hoax,' I will be recommending a BONUS of $10,000 per person for distinguished service to our Country."
Such a bonus, however, won't be so easy to issue, according to MSNBC White House reporter Laura Barrón-López .
"That's, of course, something that would likely need to be approved by Congress," she told host Ana Cabrera Monday morning.
Trump continued, saying that those who "did nothing but complain, and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid, IN FULL, shortly into the future" should quit, adding, "you will have a negative mark, at least in my mind, against your record."
Experts estimate that here have been tens of thousands of flight delays due to the lingering shutdown, and Trump is eager to appear as if he is doing something about it.
"If you want to leave service in the near future, please do not hesitate to do so, with NO payment or severance of any kind! You will be quickly replaced by true Patriots, who will do a better job on the Brand New State of the Art Equipment, the best in the World, that we are in the process of ordering," he continued.
Aviation analyst Alex Macheras doesn't think this approach will help the president, posting on x, "President Trump is threatening US air traffic controllers, who are working unpaid in the middle of the country’s longest shutdown, managing the busiest airspace on Earth[.]"
