Presented by BP.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Playbook Deputy Editor Zach Stanton. It is Friday, January 31st,

and here's what's driving the day. The deadly collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger

jet at Washington's Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night continues to be the biggest story in D.C.

today as the conversation fans out from the human tragedy itself to the policy and political

implications for the nation. The United States' worst aviation tragedy in more than two decades

followed years of alarms about the nation's air safety system and a series of close calls,

Politico's

Oriana Pollack reports. The COVID pandemic worsened a nationwide shortage of air traffic

controllers, only for demand for air travel to soar once passengers returned. Politically

motivated government funding showdowns made it harder to train new workers and replace

outmoded safety equipment, and the agency

at the center of it all, the Federal Aviation Administration, spent extended stretches without a

permanent leader, while investigators expressed warnings about a spike in near collisions at airports.

You can expect all of that to come under scrutiny in the hours and days ahead, especially

given the airport's proximity

to the corridors of power in Washington, and the fact that some of DCA's most frequent

flyers are members of Congress entrusted with oversight power. Watch for this to be the A-topic

on Sunday shows this weekend. Separately, it's worth flagging that this is shaping up as a big

weekend for the America First agenda,

as the next few days offer some crucial early tests of the Trump administration's swaggering approach to trade and expansionism on the world stage.

President Trump vowed again yesterday that 25% tariffs are indeed coming tomorrow February 1st for Canada and Mexico. But the situation

...