Press Briefing: Markwayne Mullin Speaks to Reporters Outside the White House - November 13, 2026

What a day, right? Uh, just to make sure we understand, there is no indication, and we had no reason to believe that as of right now, that this was a threat to the United States. Um, this was a telecommunication outage, uh, throughout FAA. Out of abundance of caution, we have grounded all the flights and -- and all the flights are accounted for.

As incoming flights, either internationally or the flights that are currently still in the air, we'll be dealing with those case by case.

Um, as you can imagine, um, there will be a priority list as they start coming in, but as I will repeat myself, uh, there was no prior indication, there was no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack against us. It's just a telecommunication outage as of right now.

[Crosstalk]

Go ahead.

Secretary Mullin, you're saying that there's no indication yet that this was an act? Does that mean that you just haven't seen the evidence and it's possible that this could be either a cyber-attack or some kind of an AI intrusion?

Well, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. Any time something like this happens -- I mean, the last time I believe that we've had a national ground stoppage was 9/11. And, of course, through DHS, we're getting a ton of calls saying, is this a terrorist attack, is this a terrorist attack? Everybody's safe.

There is no reason to be concerned about your loved ones if they're flying in or anything like that.

I just want to make sure everybody's at ease about that. As we investigate what caused this, you always got to assume that as many cyber-attacks that take place, that you make that assumption. So, but as of right now, that's not known. So we are -- we're going to continue to work. The first thing we want to do is make sure we restore the communications, we get all the flights on the ground and then we -- we get back normal operations.

But we're going to continue to work to find out what the root of the cause is.

It's your assessment that Microsoft -- it's your assessment that Microsoft yesterday, the FAA today is a coincidence?

I, um, I don't see any reason to connect those two at all. Uh, those are separate issues. Yes.

Just to be clear, can you definitively rule out that this is not a cyber-attack? And how long do you expect this outage to last? What is the cause of it?

So we're working with Secretary Duffy on this. We're not ruling out anything at this point. The first thing is, is the safety of everybody that's flying. We are assured that everybody is safe. Uh, everybody that's going to be in -- in the air, that's currently on the plane, the loved ones, as I said, we're going to get you on the ground and we're doing it in a safe manner.

To say that we can rule out anything, that's not what we do at this point, right? The first thing we want to do is make sure everybody is safe and we restore operations. Yes.

Can you talk about the specific system that is being affected right now? And we have seen some planes land at specific airports.

Right.

Is that going to be the case at all airports, any flights in the air will be allowed to land?

All the flights that are currently in the air -- we have a ground stoppage. We still got to get the flights out, right? And so we're going to be dealing with those case by case. Um, it -- I think you said specific. It's a telecommunication outage. Um, I'm not going to get ahead of FAA. That's their lane to talk about.

We were wanting to assure all the American people this isn't a -- a safety to the American people or -- or another 9/11. I think that's what a lot of people are trying to make the comparison to, and that's not the case.

And in briefing the president, what kind of all of government response is being assembled right now? Who's involved? What kind of --

We're throwing -- everyone that has a stake in this, everybody's involved right now. So this is a -- this is unprecedented, when we -- when you see something like this. And we're going to continue to throw the assets we need at it to make sure that, one, as -- not to repeat myself, but that we get the flights down and then we get normal operations back up. But there was several of us that was involved in it. Yes.

Right back here, back here, in blue tie. Sorry.

Sorry. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Um, so is it currently the communications is down as we speak right now?

Yes.

And then secondly --

There is -- let me -- we are able to communicate, uh, at certain levels, but -- but it's overwhelmed some of the systems we have. Once again, Sean Duffy, Secretary Duffy is on this. He was on the phone earlier with -- with the president and several of us and they're doing a phenomenal job in a crisis mode.

So is it days or weeks?

That's too early to tell. That's too early to tell right now. Yes.

[Inaudible] last about seven hours right now and that pilots are telling us people. Is that the time frame you're --

We have not discussed any time frame for -- I just think about this as a whole. If I have a loved one at the airport, um, just to get everybody started back up and the ground -- and the flights going again, it's going to take some time.

And so this isn't going to just be resolved, uh, and -- and turned around within the hour. This is -- this is going to take -- take some time. But once again, um, everybody is safe, the flights are accounted for and there's no -- there should be no fear to the public at all on this one. Yes.

Can you explain, just the president has been briefed, you've talked to him?

Yes. Well, my -- there was -- I wasn't the only the only person in the room, obviously.

And then there are, um, thoughts that, you know, this could be an AI related error or issue.

We call it SI around here, remember, SI. Um, you know, I -- you just can't rule out anything at this point. Um, we're going through that process and we're going to find out what happened.

Uh, and when we do, we'll take the, you know, the appropriate actions to make sure it doesn't happen again. Yes.

And while you are investigating -- while you're investigating are there any extra precautions that are going on for the president to keep him safe while you are still investigating?

Well, there's no fear to the public. I want to make sure we say this again, there's no reason for the public to be afraid or scared for your loved ones. This isn't another 9/11. I just can't repeat that enough. People are making that assumption because that's the last time we had a nationwide ground stoppage.

This is a telecommunication outage. This is much different.

And just following up on Caitlin's question, there are reports that the FAA was rolling out a new AI traffic control system today. Has there been any link between that rollout --

We're looking at that. That -- we're -- that's part of something that obviously through CISA at DHS, we are -- we're taking a look, we're working with our -- with our counterparts throughout all agencies. Yes.

Are planes in the air that FAA isn't able to communicate with right now?

No, no, it's just at a different level. The clarity, as my understanding, so I'm not trying to get ahead of myself on this one. My understanding is that we can still communicate, it's just that it's at different levels and the clarity that we can get to, but there's redundancy in most communications.

So as you can see, there's still planes landing and so there are still communications going on. And we, at an abundance of caution, is what -- is the reason why we -- we decided to ground everything. Let me go here.

Thank you, sir. This is a ground stop for the United States.

Yes.

Is this affecting other countries as well?

Not that -- not that we're aware of. There's two areas that, um, we are -- that we know that are not affected. I don't think I'm at -- at the ability to share those right now, but there's two areas inside the United States that -- that are still able to communicate just fine. Yes.

I don't understand that. What does that -- what does that mean?

[Inaudible] linked to this and can you describe who is helping in investigating the root cause of it, as far as what agencies?

Every agency that has a -- has an asset that is involved in this from the communications side, FAA, DOW, State Department, we're all working together, but that's what we do, right? And -- and I don't want to say that this is a crisis, but it is because we're downing -- we're -- you know, we had to do a nationwide ground stoppage.

It's what the government works well at, that's what we're here for. And so we are well-positioned, um, and communicating very well. The president took a lead in this immediately, uh, and he gave us the -- the assets and the communication, uh, to -- to move forward in a fast way. That's what leaders do and President Trump is the best at leading us.

[Crosstalk]

Uh, I haven't got you, go ahead. Yes.

You say this is not a 9/11 style event, but if it is a widespread telecommunications issue, it could in theory be a cyber-attack related to some sort of terror, a version of terror but the modern day cyber version.

You can't -- this isn't the same comparison to 9/11. That is -- that's a road I won't go down. But people are making that assumption because it's a -- it's a stoppage. Do we know what has caused it yet? No, we're going to go through it, but I'm not going to make assumptions. As I've said multiple times, it's very difficult to make assumptions.

We want to always deal with facts and we're going to deal with facts. And as we get them, we'll roll them out to you guys. All right? Thank you, guys, appreciate it.