US President Donald Trump adjusts his jacket after alighting from Air Force One upon arrival at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on October 27, 2025. (Photo by PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)
"Do you know what happened there? What was that?" the reporter asked.
"They're going to let me know pretty soon. I think they should be able to find out. It could be bad fuel. I mean, it's possible it's bad fuel. Very unusual that that would happen," Trump said.
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"You don't think it was foul play or anything?" the reporter pressed.
"No, I don't," Trump replied. "They think it might be bad fuel."
A F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet is catapulted off the flight deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea on Feb. 13. (Reuters) (Reuters/Hamad I Mohammed)
Roughly 30 minutes after the helicopter incident, an F/A-18F Super Hornet from the Nimitz, assigned to the "Fighting Redcocks" of Strike Fighter Squadron 22, also went down in the South China Sea during flight operations.
Search-and-rescue teams again responded swiftly, recovering the jet’s two crew members, who had successfully ejected before the aircraft hit the water. Both aviators were transported back to the Nimitz and are reported to be in stable condition.
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The USS Nimitz has been commissioned in the U.S. Navy for 50 years, and its current tour is set to be its last before being retired.
Fox News' Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-navy-identifies-possible-cause-two-separate-crashes-south-china-sea-trump-says