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Copilot ‘was perhaps a terrorist or a whack-job,’ says Trump after call with Netanyahu
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, September 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
US President Donald Trump says he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the apparent attempted hijacking of a flydubai flight full of Israelis and that it seems the suspect “was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job.”
Trump says he was told by Netanyahu and others about how a plumber on board managed to take level out the plane after it began nosedive.
“I don’t know if it’s true, but that’s the story that I got from Bibi and from a couple of other people,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office.
“They said [the pilot] wanted to crash the plane, but they don’t have that kind of information,” he adds.
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