Pete Buttigieg blasts Trump after president excoriates him during press briefing

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg fired back at President Donald Trump on Thursday after the commander in chief blasted the Democrat during a press briefing about the deadly midair collision between a military helicopter and a passenger airplane that occurred on Wednesday night.

Trump sarcastically called Buttigieg “a real winner.”

“He’s a disaster. He was a disaster as a mayor. He ran his city into the ground. And he’s a disaster now. He’s just got a good line of bulls—,” the president said. 

PETE BUTTIGIEG GIVING ‘SERIOUS LOOK’ TO 2026 SENATE RUN IN TRUMP-WON MICHIGAN

Left: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters on Sept. 27, 2023 in Washington, D.C.; Right: President Donald Trump looks on after delivering remarks at the House Republican Members Conference Dinner at Trump National Doral Miami, in Miami, Fla., on Jan. 27, 2025. (Left: Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Right: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Indiana Mayor who served as secretary of the Transportation Department under former President Joe Biden, sounded off in a post on social media.

“Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch,” Buttigieg declared in a post on X.

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“President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again,” he added.

Buttigieg mounted a presidential bid in 2019, but dropped out the next year and endorsed Biden.

Buttigieg is reportedly “taking a serious look” at the possibility of running for U.S. Senate in in Michigan.

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“Pete is exploring all of his options on how he can be helpful and continue to serve,” a source familiar with Buttigieg’s thinking told Fox News Digital. “He’s honored to be mentioned for this, and he’s taking a serious look.”

Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this report