Trump on Letitia James: “Sick Person”; Noem vs. Underwood on Due Process; Duffy: Buttigieg Changed “Cockpit” to “Flight Deck” Instead of Fixing ATC

Three confrontations defined the news cycle in May 2025. Trump assessed New York AG Letitia James: “She’s a sick person who campaigned solely on ‘I’m going to get Donald Trump.’ But that has nothing to do with what Pam Bondi does. Pam is going to do what’s right.” At a hearing, Rep. Lauren Underwood demanded Sec. Noem answer “yes or no” on due process while refusing to let her speak. And Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blasted Buttigieg’s failure on air traffic control: “The last administration spent $1.2 trillion on infrastructure. How much was spent rebuilding air traffic control? $5 billion — and only $1 billion was actually spent. They were focused on changing ‘cockpit’ to ‘flight deck.’ That’s actually what they spent time on.”

Trump on Letitia James

Trump’s assessment of the New York AG was characteristically blunt.

“She’s a disaster for New York,” Trump said. “She’s a horrible, horrible human being. And I think she’s a total crook. There’s no question about it.”

He described her campaign: “She’s a very bad person who campaigned solely on, ‘I’m going to get Donald Trump,’ over and over again.”

He delivered the verdict: “She’s a sick person.”

He separated it from the DOJ: “But that has nothing to do with what Pam does. Pam is going to do what’s right. She always does. I’ve known her a long time.”

The Letitia James characterization reflected Trump’s long-running conflict with the New York AG who had pursued civil fraud charges against him and his business empire. Trump’s argument — that James had been elected on a platform of investigating him specifically, rather than on a law enforcement agenda — was supported by James’s own campaign rhetoric, in which she had explicitly promised to target Trump before identifying any specific legal violation.

The separation between James and AG Bondi was politically important. Trump was signaling that the federal DOJ would not be used to retaliate against James personally — that Bondi would “do what’s right” based on the law, not on personal grudges. The distinction maintained the administration’s position that the DOJ was independent while acknowledging Trump’s personal views about James.

Noem vs. Underwood

Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) attempted to trap Noem in a “yes or no” interrogation.

“Do you believe that the Constitution grants everyone in our country the right to due process, including non-citizens?” Underwood asked.

Noem began: “The administration has the authority to—”

Underwood interrupted: “Ma’am, I’m looking for a yes or no.”

Noem tried again, prompting another interruption: “Secretary Noem, I’m just looking for a yes or no here.”

Noem attempted a substantive response: “Due process is exactly what this Congress—”

Underwood cut in: “Okay, I’ll take that as a no.”

Noem wasn’t finished: Underwood moved to the next question: “Do you believe that the U.S. government has the authority to deport American citizens?”

Noem was definitive: “No, and we are not deporting U.S. citizens.”

Underwood then made an assertion: “Several American citizens have been deported to date.”

Noem attempted to respond but was cut off again: “Secretary Noem, that was not a question.”

The exchange illustrated the Democratic hearing strategy: ask “yes or no” questions designed to produce sound bites, interrupt any attempt at substantive answers, and then characterize incomplete responses as damaging admissions. Underwood’s “I’ll take that as a no” — imposed after refusing to let Noem complete her answer — was the most egregious example. Noem was attempting to provide context about what due process meant in the immigration enforcement context; Underwood wanted a decontextualized “yes” that could be clipped for media.

Noem’s firm “No, we are not deporting U.S. citizens” was the definitive response the administration needed on record — a flat denial that cut through Underwood’s narrative-building.

Duffy Blasts Buttigieg on ATC

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy delivered the most detailed indictment of the Biden administration’s infrastructure failures.

“This is not a new problem,” Duffy said. “There have been multiple GAO reports over the last four years saying you have real problems with air traffic control and you should do something with it before it actually fails.”

He cited the infrastructure bill: “The last administration spent $1.2 trillion. The largest infrastructure package ever known to man. Joe Biden signed it right here at this White House.”

He asked the key question: “How much was spent to rebuild air traffic control? $5 billion.”

He revealed the execution failure: “And of the $5 billion that was given, only $1 billion was actually spent. So they have made no investments in the system that we now see having issues in Newark.”

He delivered the devastating comparison: “On top of that, they were focused on things like racist roads. They literally spent time concerned about the word ‘cockpit’ and changing ‘cockpit’ to ‘flight deck.’ It’s not funny. That’s actually what they spent time on. Or ‘airmen’ to ‘aero-not.’”

He described his discovery: “Shortly after the DCA air crash, I started to look at the air traffic control system. Very quickly I saw one piece of the pie where there were issues, then scratched further and there’s another piece. As we looked at it, we see that the whole system needs to be redone. We need to build a brand new air traffic control system.”

The “cockpit to flight deck” detail became the defining symbol of Biden-era transportation policy. While the air traffic control system was deteriorating to the point of failure — producing outages at Newark and contributing to safety concerns nationwide — the Transportation Department under Buttigieg had devoted resources to renaming aviation terminology to be more gender-inclusive.

The $1 billion spent out of $5 billion allocated — a 20% execution rate on a system the GAO had flagged as critical — was perhaps the most damning infrastructure statistic of the Biden years. Congress had appropriated the money specifically for ATC modernization. The Biden DOT had left 80% of it unspent while focusing on ideological priorities.

Key Takeaways

• Trump on Letitia James: “Sick person who campaigned solely on getting Trump. But Pam Bondi will do what’s right — she always does.”
• Noem to Underwood: “No, we are not deporting U.S. citizens” — while being repeatedly interrupted and denied the ability to give substantive answers.
• Duffy on Buttigieg: “$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, only $1 billion of $5 billion for ATC actually spent. They changed ‘cockpit’ to ‘flight deck’ instead.”
• Duffy: “The whole system needs to be redone. We need to build a brand new air traffic control system.”
• Underwood’s hearing strategy: demand yes/no, interrupt answers, claim non-answers as admissions.