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Transport Secretary distances herself from Trump's harsh rhetoric

US TRANSPORTATION Secretary Elaine Chao, also wife of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, appeared to distance herself from the harsh language used by President Donald Trump in discussing the US air traffic control system before a congressional committee.

"They are protecting our safety," Ms Chao said in response to a Democratic congresswoman's question about Trump's criticism of the Federal Aviation Administration's air-traffic controllers. "Those are not my words."

But Ms Chao stood with Trump on Monday at a White House ceremony in which he endorsed splitting off the FAA's air traffic system and placing it under a non-profit corporation.

The president attacked the FAA system, calling it "horrible" that it had wasted billions and used outdated technology, adding that its managers didn't know what they were doing.

"You stood right there next to him and yet what we're hearing from you today is a little different," said Nevada Democratic Congresswoman Dina Titus, a Nevada Democrat. "So I'd like to go back over things and see who we should believe."

Said Ms Chao: "I believe that the FAA is doing a good job. You heard the president. He has spoken."

But she vigorously defended the Trump plan at two Congressional hearings in two days, sometimes under aggressive opposition from lawmakers of both parties.

"It's a big step," she told the House committee Thursday. "But after 30 years of debate, we believe the country is ready."

Ms Chao said she believes air traffic would be more efficient under private oversight.

Ms Chao, having served in the administrations of President George W Bush and his father, George HW Bush.

Born in Taipei, Ms Chao was the first Asian American woman and the first Taiwanese American to be appointed to a president's cabinet.

She served as the 24th United States Secretary of Labour under President George W Bush from 2001 to 2009, and as Deputy Secretary of Transportation and Director of the Peace Corps under President George HW Bush. She spent four years as the president of the United Way of America.