Journalist Slams Donald Trump as 'Nowhere To Be Found' as 4-Hour FAA Grounding Strands Thousands of Travellers

Journalist Aaron Parnas criticised President Donald Trump on Friday, 13 November, as a nationwide FAA ground stop halted US flight departures for more than four hours.

The disruption left thousands of travellers facing cancellations and delays, while Parnas questioned the president's public response.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the stop after telecommunications problems destabilised radar and communications data used by air traffic controllers. The agency lifted the restriction at 8:15 p.m. Eastern, but airline schedules remained disrupted into Saturday.

Donald Trump Criticised Over Public Response to FAA Ground Stop

In a TikTok video, Parnas described Trump as 'nowhere to be found'. He also claimed there was 'mass outrage' over the president's response, an assessment that has not been independently established.

Parnas pointed to two Truth Social posts, one about Hollywood and another concerning the Coast Guard. He said neither addressed the flight disruption while passengers were left waiting for updates.

Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy later said he had spoken to Trump by telephone. According to Doocy, the president suggested the outage might involve 'old broken stuff'. That description was not an investigative finding.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy offered another perspective at a White House briefing. He said he and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had spoken with Trump repeatedly during the emergency.

Asked why the president had not addressed the public directly, Duffy replied, 'I don't run the president's comms.' His account challenged suggestions Trump was unreachable, although it did not answer Parnas's criticism of his public silence.

Officials said the first instability appeared at 3:36 p.m. Eastern. More than 3,500 aircraft were already airborne when the FAA stopped departures. Controllers followed established procedures to bring them in safely.

Donald Trump Administration Faces New Questions Over FAA Router Failure

Duffy initially blamed overloaded switches and routers in an ageing telecommunications network. On Saturday, 14 November, he offered a more detailed preliminary explanation based on the investigation.

Contractor L3Harris had been working at a remote FAA location to transfer connections from copper wiring to fibre, Duffy said. A router associated with the work generated more than 1,000 connection attempts every four to five seconds. The activity affected other equipment, disrupting communications and radar feeds.

Investigators had not established whether the cause was faulty equipment or an installation error. In a statement, L3Harris said it was assisting the FAA's inquiry and took the disruption seriously.

The new details also addressed criticism from Washington Examiner journalist Anna Giaritelli. She told CNN she had spoken with 60 controllers who questioned whether such work would occur during a busy Friday afternoon.

Duffy explained on Saturday that routine changes at smaller, remote facilities sometimes take place during the day. He said the scheduling would be reassessed, while major-site upgrades typically occurred at night.

Duffy also said officials did not believe the outage resulted from a cyberattack, although the technical investigation remained open.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford stressed that Friday's maintenance was separate from the $12.5 billion (£9.45 billion) modernisation programme already funded by Congress. Duffy sought $50 billion (£37.79 billion) for a broader overhaul, exceeding the $30 billion (£22.67 billion) he said Trump had requested.

Flights resumed late Friday, but cancellations and delays continued as airlines struggled to reposition aircraft and crews. Bedford expected schedules to recover by Sunday evening, while investigators continued examining the router failure.