Donald Trump gives update as US Navy helicopter and jet crash in separate incidents

An investigation has been launched after a US Navy and fighter jet crashed within half an hour of each other.

The separate crashes, which took place over the South China Sea on Sunday (October 26), have been described as 'very unusual' by Donald Trump.

An MH-60R Seahawk helicopter dropped at around 2.45pm 'while conducting routine operations from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz,' the Navy said via a social media update.

Three people were rescued by search-and-rescue crews.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter then crashed 30 minutes later while conducting routine operations from Nimitz.

The two onboard crew members were ejected from the jet and safely recovered.

The Navy has since launched an investigation into the circumstances of the incidents.

The USS Nimitz is the Navy’s oldest aircraft carrier and is set to be retired next year.

The Navy lost two other F/A-18 jets in the Red Sea earlier this year, while another jet crashed off Virginia during training in August.

It comes as Trump heads to Asia for talks with world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, this week.

Trump addressed the crashes with reporters while traveling from Malaysia to Japan on Monday (October 7).

"They think it might be bad fuel. We’re gonna find out. Nothing to hide, sir," Trump answered in response to a journalist's question, as per CNN.

Trump was in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on Sunday for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

He then heads to Japan and finally South Korea, where he will meet up with President Jinping on Thursday (October 30).

It comes as the two bickering countries reached a framework deal amid spiralling trade conflict on Sunday (October 26), the Washington Post reports.

Trump had threatened to slap an extra 100 percent tariff on all Chinese goods coming into the US.

But this new agreement has pressed pause on that plan, at least for now.

South China Sea – On October 26, 2025 at approximately 2:45 p.m. local time, a U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, assigned to the “Battle Cats” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 73 went down in the waters of the South China Sea while conducting routine operations

— U.S. Pacific Fleet (@USPacificFleet) October 26, 2025

Scott Bessent, Trump’s Treasury Secretary, said he and his Chinese counterparts had positive talks that led to the framework deal.

China agreed to hold off on new limits on rare earth minerals - metals needed for electronics, electric cars and defense technology.

Those limits, if they’d gone ahead, would’ve hurt the US economy because America still relies heavily on China for those materials.

Trump, however, is hoping to move the country toward being less dependent on China and more self-sufficient when it comes to critical resources.

Bessent said China might delay its restrictions on rare earths for about a year, though China hasn’t officially confirmed that.

He also said they’re making progress on helping US farmers, since China had boycott American soybeans.