President Donald Trump said on Thursday that air traffic control systems have not been built properly, speaking in the wake of a deadly midair collision between an American Airlines regional passenger jet and a U.

Democrats previously hit out at the president's federal hiring freeze for hindering the "number one safety issue" in aviation.

One widely shared claim was that Trump fired 3,000 air traffic controllers shortly after taking office for his second term. One post alone (archived) making this claim had received more than 2.7 million views and 25,