Dan Bongino proposes ruthless fix for reporters crying over Trump leaving them on Air Force One

WASHINGTON,DC: Former Co-Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Dan Bongino, on Sunday, August 16, suggested a simple answer for journalists who say they were furious after discovering that President Donald Trump had secretly left Air Force One during a flight from Turkey to the United Kingdom last month.

The FBI deputy director took aim at reporters who have spent days criticizing the White House over the security operation, arguing that scarce seats on the presidential aircraft should go to people essential to the mission.

Dan Bongino asks press to 'stop whining'

Bongino laid out his proposal in a pointed post on X, saying the media had spent nearly a week “whining” about the episode instead of looking at the practical problem.

He said he has flown aboard Air Force One “countless times” and knows how limited the available seats can be.

According to Bongino, members of Congress, senators, Cabinet officials and senior staff are routinely placed on the support aircraft or left off the presidential plane altogether because space is limited.

But he argued that a substantial portion of the aircraft is reserved for the White House press pool.

That led to his first suggestion: shrink the presidential press contingent.

Bongino proposed allowing just one White House pool reporter and one camera to remain aboard the aircraft with Trump, while sending the remaining journalists to the support or press plane.

His reasoning was blunt: freeing up those seats would allow “people who actually matter” to travel aboard the aircraft.

Bongino's second option was even simpler.

Journalists could continue flying with the president, he said, but should “thank the American people for the courtesy” and stop complaining.

He ended the post with deliberately mocking the press, telling reporters to stop “whining like five-year-olds in grade-school detention.”

Press cries foul after plane switch

The dispute stems from a secret flight operation last month in which Trump was moved from Air Force One to another aircraft while traveling from Turkey to Britain amid what officials considered a potential threat from Iran.

Journalists who remained aboard Air Force One later objected to the way the operation was handled.

Several journalists alleged that reporters were never given an opportunity to agree to being part of the security operation without knowing what was happening. 

They argued that members of the press are neither Air Force personnel nor Secret Service agents and had not signed up to knowingly put themselves in danger to protect the president.

The reporters said they would have accepted security restrictions if they had been informed that an unusual operation was underway.

Instead, they learned afterward that Trump had secretly been moved because of the perceived threat.