Trump’s tale of a harrowing helicopter ride and emergency landing? Didn’t happen, Willie Brown says

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump mixed up two prominent politicians from California when he told a harrowing tale of almost crashing in a helicopter.

During a meandering press conference Thursday riddled with false and misleading statements, Trump recalled riding as a passenger in the chopper with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown when it was forced to make an emergency landing. The comments were in response to a question about a relationship between Brown and Vice President Kamala Harris three decades ago.

But Brown has never shared a helicopter with Trump, the former mayor said. Instead, it was former California Gov. Jerry Brown who rode with Trump in a helicopter in 2018 to survey wildfire damage, and no emergency landing was reported.

“I know Willie Brown very well,” Mr. Trump said about the alleged incident. “In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him. We thought maybe this was the end.”

He went on: “We were in a helicopter, going to a certain location together, and there was an emergency landing. This was not a pleasant landing.”

Trump said Brown also told him “terrible things” about Harris. “He was not a fan of hers very much, at that point.”

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