Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin managed to suck up to President Donald Trump even as flights across the country were grounded in a spiraling crisis.
The top Trump official took questions from reporters outside the White House after the FAA announced there had been a “temporary telecommunications outage” and that all flights had been halted nationwide.
“Secretary Duffy is on this. He was on the phone earlier with the president and several of us, and they’re doing a phenomenal job,” Mullin said of the reality TV star-turned-transportation secretary.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin speaks to members of the press outside the West Wing of the White House November 13, 2026 after the FAA grounded all air traffic on Friday.
Mullin said there were some communications with flights, but the issue had overwhelmed certain systems.
While Mullin took multiple questions during his update, he provided few answers. Asked whether the stoppage was the result of an artificial intelligence issue, he said he could not rule anything out.
“We’re going through that process, and we’re going to find out what happened, and when we do, we’ll take the appropriate actions to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
Mullin said there has been no indication that it was a “nefarious attack against us.”
However, when asked specifically if he was ruling out a cyber attack, the DHS secretary also said, “We’re not ruling out anything at this point.”
While the top Trump official said the investigation into the cause was ongoing and did not want to jump to any conclusions, he did rush to emphasize that the Trump administration was “good” in a crisis.
White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung speak inside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 13, 2026 after the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for departing flights, citing a communications problem.
KENT NISHIMURA/Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images
“That’s what we’re here for, and so we are well positioned and communicating very well,” Mullin said before praising his boss even as the ground stop was ongoing.
“The president took a lead in this immediately, and he gave us the assets and the communication to move forward in a fast way,” Mullin said. “That’s what leaders do, and President Trump’s the best at leading us.”
Mullin did not say whether Duffy was at the White House before walking away.
Expert guests on CNN theorized a mishap with a new FAA system upgrade may be to blame. The AI-supported air traffic management platform called “SMART” was advertised to be going live on Friday, after Duffy had gone all in on promoting the new system before its launch.
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