Biden claims he took the train over Francis Scott Key bridge ‘many, many times’—there are no rail lines

Biden told reporters he took the bridge "many many times commuting from the state of Delaware either by train or by car" in the presser.

The gaffe adds to a number of others the president has had in recent years. He also announced that the bridge would be paid entirely by the federal government.

"We're going to get it up and running again as soon as possible. 15,000 jobs depend on that port. And we're going to do everything we can to protect those jobs," Biden told reporters at the White House.

"It's my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort." Biden added. "The people of Baltimore can count on us to stick with them at every step of the way."

Biden further added that he would not wait for an investigation to see who was at fault in the collapse of the bridge when a reporter inquired about the fault of the shipping company in charge of the boat.

"We’re not going to wait for that to happen. We’re going to prepay to get the bridge built and reopen," he told reporters.

"Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident. At this time, we have no other indication, no other reason to believe, there's any intentional act here," the president said.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore as well as Biden have indicated that the incident was an accident. Prior to the crash, the crew had notified authorities with a mayday call and the power failed aboard the ship.

The ship named "Dali" was being managed by Singaporean company Synergy Marine Group and is owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd. The company in charge of the charter of the ship, Maersk, halted all shipments in the Red Sea channel in December 2023 due to incursions by the Houthis. The cargo aboard Dali was headed to Sri Lanka, much closer to the Red Sea than the Baltimore port.