Key points
- Drones were authorised by the Federal Aviation Administration
- As President-elect, Trump had suggested shooting down the drones
- He had also accused Biden of hiding the true nature of drones
- The White House press secretary confirmed statement in her briefing
WASHINGTON: Drones seen in the skies over the US state of New Jersey were flown “for research and various other reasons,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday after suggesting that the federal government was hiding their real nature.
“The drones that were flying over New Jersey, in large numbers, were authorised to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons,” Trump said in a statement read aloud in the White House briefing room by his spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt.
He was referring to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy,” Trump added.
Shooting the drones
Trump, as president-elect, had said the drones should be hit, and accused the Biden administration of covering up their real nature, saying: “The government knows what is happening.”
“I think they’d be better off saying what it is. Our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense,” he had said in December.
The explanation Trump gave on Tuesday largely squares with an interagency statement published under the Biden administration, which narrated the sightings as “a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.”
I think they’d be better off saying what it is. Our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense.” – Donald Trump in December 2024.
Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, said the mystery drones flown across New Jersey in late 2024 were “authorized to be flown by the FAA” in the first press briefing of President Donald Trump’s second administration.
“I do have news directly from the president of the United States that was just shared with me in the Oval Office, from President Trump directly, an update on the New Jersey drones,” Leavitt said.