Awkward moment transportation secretary appears to nudge Mullin as he stumbles over excuses for massive FAA system malfunction that led to catastrophic ground stop

Trump administration officials Sean Duffy and Markwayne Mullin appeared at odds during an awkward press conference over the massive aviation crisis that halted all flights during a historic multi-hour ground stop. The Department of Transportation (DOT) and Homeland Security held a joint press conference at the White House on Friday night to address the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) system malfunction that led to the five-hour ground stop. The FAA cited 'extraordinary circumstances for safety reasons' caused by communications issues at regional air traffic control centers as the reason for the halt, which resulted in thousands of canceled flights and hundreds of delays nationwide.Reporters pressed the two officials on whether the error resulted from a cyberattack. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Mullin said the administration was 'still looking' into cybersecurity, but the error initially appeared to be the result of new equipment 'overwhelming the system.' 'That new equipment, new technology, just wasn't - it was overwhelming the older system,' Mullin stumbled as he attempted to explain what caused the communications error. As Mullin struggled to answer, Transportation Secretary Duffy looked confused and subtly nudged his colleague. Duffy also shook his head when Mullin claimed that the new technology was 'overwhelming the system.' The awkward moment was clipped online, and social media users were quick to comment on the body language between the two administration secretaries. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy (left) and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin (right) addressed the press in an awkward conference on Friday night The FAA issued a historic ground stop on Friday afternoon. Passengers were stranded and are pictured above attempting to fly on Saturday morning after the order was lifted Duffy appeared to awkwardly nudge Mullin as he spoke about the FAA's outdated hardware'You can see the moment of impact of the wheels of the bus hitting as he’s thrown under it,' one wrote. 'The only message they were unified on was a pitch for the money. The rest is shady,' another said. 'When they don’t have their stories synced up,' a third said. Duffy and Mullin began the conference by presenting a unified front and praising the Trump administration for working together throughout the aviation crisis. Duffy said the FAA experienced 'instability for our radar and communications' at 3.36pm EST, prompting the nationwide ground stop while over 3,500 airplanes were in the air. The transportation secretary then pivoted to discussing the archaic communications system, explaining that it was 'overloaded and went down,' before quickly correcting himself: 'I shouldn't say it went down - there were inconsistencies.' He argued the error resulted from a 'patchwork' system and demanded that Congress fund the FAA with $50 billion for new air traffic control equipment.Although Duffy stood firm that the error was due to an outdated system, Mullin said there was 'nothing completely certain' when asked whether the error could have resulted from a cyber attack. 'It appears that this was mechanically driven; however, we are still looking,' Mullin added before reiterating Duffy's point that the FAA needs additional funding from Congress. Duffy appeared confused when Mullin started speaking about the FAA The transportation secretary stood firm that the communications error was due to old equipment, but the DHS chief said he had not ruled out a cyber attack Duffy then cut in and directed his remarks back to highlighting the FAA's 'old legacy equipment.' To conclude the conference, Mullin praised Trump's leadership and the president's decision to allow the two secretaries to speak together on the issue. DHS and the DOT frequently collaborate on national security and transportation. The two administration officials announced a partnership over the summer to stop allowing undocumented migrants from obtaining driver's licenses. Although Mullin and Duffy agreed on that initiative, they had previously clashed over immigration issues. In May, Mullin brazenly threatened to withdraw Customs and Border Protection from airports in sanctuary cities in an attempt to discourage the policy. Sanctuary cities are primarily supported by Democratic leadership and limit how local law enforcement can collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The DOT opposed the policy idea at the time, writing in a statement: 'US Travel believes such a move would have devastating consequences for the travel industry and communities that depend on international visitation.'Duffy also opposed Mullin's idea during a Congressional hearing. He said he was unfamiliar with Mullin's remarks but opposed restricting travel based on political views, noting that at some point Democrats would once again be in charge. 'We have people from around the world and around the country that need to be able to fly into all different kinds of places. We shouldn't shut down air travel in a state that doesn't agree with our politics,' he said. Friday's ground stop has marked a major collaboration between DHS and the DOT as both agencies continue to investigate what led to the massive communication outage. The two administration officials took the questions from the press after a historic FAA ground stop Democrats have capitalized on the event, demanding more transparency from the Trump administration. Senator Tammy Duckworth, a ranking Democrat on the Aviation, Space and Innovation Subcommittee, argued in a statement that the 'safety of our skies is built on redundancies.' House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement that the 'unprecedented breakdown is the latest in a series of unacceptable air travel incidents under the Trump Administration's failed leadership.' Representative Robert Garcia called the nationwide ground stop 'quite disturbing' during an interview on MS NOW. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg watched Duffy's press conference from a hotel bar in Denver after a Democratic conference while he waited to get a flight, The New York Times reported. When asked for his reaction to the conference, he told a reporter: 'You can just write down the comic book asterisk swearing characters,' adding, 'I have questions.' The Democratic members of the House Committee on Homeland Security's account on X blasted the Trump administration's response to the ground stop.'What the hell is going on?' the account wrote. 'Trump and his cabinet are completely out of their depth.'New Jersey Representative Nellie Pou, a Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Aviation, called on the Trump administration to 'be prompt and forthright in providing answers.' The halt lasted for about five hours. More than 3,500 airplanes were in the air when the ground stop was issued on Friday Americans faced the longest aviation stoppage since 9/11 on Friday after an extremely rare ground stop was issued, stranding about 1.5 million passengersThe flight halt was the first since January 11, 2023, which happened after a key FAA computer system malfunctioned, and just the second since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.Duffy said on Saturday morning that operations were 'slowly returning to normal,' and planes are safe to fly, but delays will continue. There were over 10,500 total delays, with almost 2,000 within, into or out of the US as of Saturday at 9am EST, according to flight tracking data from FlightAware. Almost 4,000 flights within, into or out of the US were canceled on Saturday. The Daily Mail has reached out to DHS for comment. The DOT referred the Daily Mail to Duffy's press conference when asked for comment on his reaction to Mullin's remarks.