Donald Trump Jr baselessly suggests conspiracy in ‘sketchy’ Titanic sub rescue mission

Search for submarine reached critical point Thursday morning as oxygen reserves thought to have run out

As a search for five tourists believed to be stranded at the bottom of the ocean continues, the son of former President Donald Trump is weighing in about the situation.

Mr Trump’s eldest son, Don Jr, commented on Truth Social and Twitter on Wednesday that the entire situation was “insane and sketchy” and baselessly predicted that “external factors” that had not yet been publicly disclosed were contributing to the inability of rescue teams to find the craft.

The search for the missing Titan submersible reached a bleak point on Thursday as oxygen reserves on the craft are thought to be dwindling if not already totally spent. The odds of finding the craft and, importantly, rescuing the five people inside, are growing longer.

"Literally everything I've seen about this missing submarine is insane and sketchy AF... almost none of it makes any sense whatsoever. How long till we find other external factors making it even more so???" wrote the ex-president’s eldest son.

He would go on, in a second post, to mock “lefties” for dismissing his “conspiracy theories”.

While many of Mr Trump’s fans liked the post, on Twitter the reaction from many was derision towards Mr Trump Jr’s apparent confusion as to why something could have easily gone wrong on the voyage.

“Rich people sometimes have more money than sense. Also, regulations exist for reasons. Hope that helps,” wrote one person in response.

Those onboard the craft were headed to the wreckage of the Titanic, some several hundred miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. But the expedition was privately funded and independent experts have long criticised the company involved for cost-cutting measures they warn made the voyage much less safe than through traditional scientific ventures.

“This company decided to self-certify,” one engineer who signed an open letter warning about the company’s practices in 2018, Bart Kemper, told CBS Mornings. “It follows no code, and it follows no jurisdiction.”