Trump’s Call for Air Traffic Controllers Bonus During Shutdown

President Donald Trump has suggested that air traffic controllers who remained on duty during the recent government shutdown receive a substantial bonus. He shared this proposal in a post on Truth Social.

“All air traffic controllers must get back to work now!!! Those who don’t will effectively be ‘stranded’,” he stated. Furthermore, he expressed, “I recommend that the air traffic controllers, who are great patriots and did not take any time off because of the ‘Democrat Shutdown Hoax,’ receive a $10,000 bonus each for their service to our country.”

Trump continued, mentioning those who took time off: “For those of you who complained and took time off even though we all knew you would be paid your full salary in the near future, I’m not happy with you. You did not stand up to support America against false Democratic attacks whose sole purpose is to harm our country. In my opinion, that might negatively affect your record. If you’re considering retirement soon, you’re welcome to do so without any payout or severance. You’ll be replaced by true patriots who will utilize our state’s top-notch equipment we have on order. The last ‘management’ wasted billions on outdated equipment. They had no idea what they were doing. Again, God bless our great American patriots – I can’t send money fast enough. Everyone else, please report to work immediately. God bless America!”

These comments followed a bipartisan agreement reached by senators over the weekend, indicating an endpoint to the government shutdown was nearing.

Numerous government functions had halted during the 40-day shutdown, which significantly affected travel nationwide.

According to a report, the bipartisan agreement is just a starting point towards resolving the shutdown, although officials warned that air travel might soon experience slowdowns, resulting in more canceled or delayed flights over the weekend.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota) remarked on the situation, noting that the shutdown impacted many individuals, pointing fingers at Democrats for seeming indifference to the consequences: “So this is impacting people and their lives, and Democrats don’t seem to care,” he insisted, urging prioritization of American citizens over partisan agendas.

Recent reports indicated that over 1,000 flights were canceled and thousands more delayed due to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) capacity issues as the shutdown continued.