Trump: 'Our military knows' who is behind drone sightings across US
President-elect cancels trip after sighting near NJ golf club
President-elect Donald Trump has expressed concerns over a series of mysterious drone sightings around the U.S. and even near his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, claiming that the government knows more about the situation than it has revealed to the public.
Speaking to reporters at a media briefing Monday, Trump indicated that the U.S. military is fully aware of the origin and trajectory of the drones but has remained silent on the issue. "The government knows what is happening," Trump said. "Look, our military knows where they took off from — if it’s a garage, they can go right into that garage. They know where it came from and where it went."
Trump’s comments come amid an ongoing investigation into the mysterious aerial activity, and followed a series of reports from local residents and law enforcement about unusual sightings of drones or flying objects in the vicinity of his golf club. The former president, however, seemed frustrated with the lack of information being shared by authorities, especially given the attention the incidents have drawn.
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"Something strange is going on," Trump said, adding that the government’s refusal to address the sightings was raising more questions than answers. "For some reason, they don’t want to comment. And I think they’d be better off saying what it is. Our military knows, our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense."
The president-elect added that sightings have been reported near Trump’s Bedminster golf club, which has long been a key venue for the former president’s personal and political activities. Because of the reported sightings, Trump said he changed plans to spend the weekend there.
While Trump stopped short of accusing the government of withholding information for nefarious reasons, he did express confusion over why the authorities were not being more forthcoming about the situation, saying, "I can’t imagine it’s the enemy, because if it was the enemy, they’d blast it … ”
When asked whether he's received an intelligence briefing on the drones, however, Trump declined further comment.
On Monday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters the Biden administration remains “open and transparent” about the sightings and said most of the reports involved drones which are operating "legally and lawfully” in the U.S.
"We assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and even stars that were mistakenly reported as drones," Kirby said.
Federal and state agencies have worked to downplay the threat posed by the reported drone sightings.
On Dec. 12, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a joint statement addressing the ongoing investigation and stated that there was no cause for alarm.
"We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus," the statement read. "The FBI, DHS, and our federal partners, in close coordination with the New Jersey State Police, continue to deploy personnel and technology to investigate this situation and confirm whether the reported drone flights are actually drones or are instead manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate sightings."
The joint statement also sought to clarify that many of the sightings might not have been drones at all. "Upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully," the agencies stated. "There are no confirmed drone sightings in any restricted airspace."
The investigation is ongoing, and authorities have acknowledged that cases of mistaken identity in previous drone reports have occurred.
