A dispute among Cabinet officials over who could ride in fighter jets flying over Washington on July Fourth escalated to President Donald Trump, who gave the go-ahead to acting attorney general Todd Blanche despite prior objections from Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy.
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The backstage air show drama reflected how much the personalities of Trump and his top officials drove the official festivities to mark the nation’s 250th birthday.
The spat centered on NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman’s plans to fly his personal collection of F-5 Tiger II fighter jets as part of Saturday’s nine-hour parade of military aircraft. The NASA administrator, who made a fortune in payment processing, co-founded a company that trains U.S. pilots and manages one of the world’s largest private fleets of fighter jets.
Isaacman planned to bring along passengers including Blanche, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump 2024 campaign manager Chris LaCivita, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, and White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf, according to two people familiar with the plans, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. Scavino posted on social media that he was looking forward to the flyover.
In late June, Isaacman, through an aide, sought permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly the jets in the aerial review, according to a public notice the agency later released. Hugh J. Thomas, a 24-year agency veteran who now directs its Flight Standards Service, determined that the jets were too risky to fly over a densely populated area.
“A single system failure will render the aircraft uncontrollable,” Thomas wrote in his denial, dated June 30. Isaacman appealed the decision, but the FAA upheld it.
The White House’s Cabinet Affairs office got involved but was not able to resolve the impasse between Duffy, who stood by his agency’s ruling, and the other senior officials who wanted to ride in the planes, the people familiar with the plans said.
The FAA classifies most ex-military jets in private hands as “experimental” aircraft because they do not map cleanly onto civilian certification standards, and the agency does not have the same knowledge about the airworthiness and safety history of former military planes.
On Friday, the official White House X account posted a video previewing the plan for Isaacman to fly in the parade — seen as a nod in his favor.
NASA developed a work-around to get past the FAA’s objections. The agency designated Isaacman’s planes as being for “public use” — treating them as its own aircraft. That allowed the agency to fly the aircraft over Washington without the FAA’s approval, an FAA spokesperson said.
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The FAA only oversees civilian aircraft, so it did not have any say over NASA’s jets, just as it is not involved with the Navy’s Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds flights.
By that point, it was too late for most of the planned VIP passengers to join the ride. But Blanche still wanted to participate. He discussed his disappointment with Trump directly, who encouraged him to go, a person familiar with the matter said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.
On Monday, Isaacman’s official X account posted photos showing Blanche in a flight suit in the back of Isaacman’s jet. Blanche responded that “it was an honor to fly over the National Mall” and thanked NASA “for an unforgettable experience.”
Spokespeople for Blanche and Duffy did not respond to requests for comment. The White House was grateful for NASA’s contribution, an official said.
“The successful air show, record-breaking fireworks display, and President Trump’s incredible speech combined to make our Nation’s 250th birthday celebration one for the ages,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said.
Duffy served as acting NASA administrator before Isaacman’s confirmation last year and advocated for bringing the space agency under the Transportation Department’s purview.
The F-5s were all 1970s-era military jets made by Northrop Grumman. Three were former Jordanian Air Force planes.
The FAA receives thousands of requests for rule waivers each year, mostly for flight certification deadlines and agricultural drone operations. The vast majority are approved. So far this year, the FAA has denied just 12 exemption requests, including for the F-5s flyover.
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Todd Frankel contributed to this report.
