Donald Trump recently claimed he experienced an emergency helicopter landing with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, but his statement has been met with swift denials and apparent confusion over key details.
USA Today reported that the controversy stems from Trump's assertion that he and Willie Brown were aboard a helicopter that had to make an emergency landing, a story quickly denied by Brown and others involved.
Trump has claimed to have the flight logs to prove that he was on the helicopter with Brown.
Trump recounted the incident during a public appearance, painting a dramatic picture of a near-crash situation. According to Trump, the helicopter was en route to an undisclosed location when it encountered issues that led to a harrowing descent.
He stated that Willie Brown was with him during this time and allegedly made critical remarks about Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump’s account, however, soon came under scrutiny.
Willie Brown responded emphatically, denying that such an incident ever occurred. “You would have known if I had gone down on a helicopter with Trump,” Brown said, making it clear that he was never in a helicopter with the former president.
The confusion deepened when former Los Angeles city council member Nate Holden stepped forward. Holden claimed that he, not Willie Brown, was the person accompanying Trump on the helicopter. This added another layer to the evolving narrative, raising questions about whether Trump had mixed up the identities of his companions.
Further complicating the story, reports from The New York Times indicated that it was actually former California Governor Jerry Brown, not Willie Brown, who accompanied Trump on a helicopter ride in 2018. This flight took place during Trump's visit to California to tour areas devastated by wildfires.
Jerry Brown confirmed through a spokesperson that no emergency landing occurred during the flight and that there was no discussion about Kamala Harris. Current California Governor Gavin Newsom, who was also on board the helicopter, backed up this account, adding that he “calls complete B.S.” on Trump’s story.
The apparent confusion between Willie Brown and Jerry Brown has led to widespread speculation about the accuracy of Trump’s recollection. While Trump insisted he had records of the incident with Willie Brown, the mounting evidence suggests he may have confused the two prominent California political figures.
Adding to the mix-up, Nate Holden's involvement raises further questions. Holden, who claimed he was the one with Trump during the flight, offered a quip highlighting the physical differences between himself and Willie Brown. “Willie is the short Black guy living in San Francisco. I’m a tall Black guy living in Los Angeles,” Holden said.
The story reached another level of complexity when Trump detailed what he claimed was a close call during the helicopter flight, describing a scenario where he and Brown feared the worst.
“We thought maybe this was the end. We were in a helicopter going to a certain location together, and there was an emergency landing. This was not a pleasant landing,” Trump stated.
Despite Trump’s vivid description, Jerry Brown and those involved in the 2018 helicopter ride, including Governor Newsom, have flatly denied that any emergency occurred.
Brown’s spokesperson reiterated that the flight was uneventful, with no emergency landing or discussion of Harris taking place.
This incident has emerged as Trump launches a fresh line of attack on Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he has increasingly targeted following the recent shake-up in the Democratic presidential campaign. Trump’s claim about the helicopter ride, along with his allegations regarding Brown’s supposed remarks about Harris, appear to be part of this broader strategy.
Both Trump’s and Harris’s campaign teams have so far remained silent on the controversy, declining to comment on the mix-up and its implications.
