White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Tuesday at the start of her first briefing the source of the strange drone sightings over New Jersey in recent months.
“I do have news directly from the president of the United States,” Leavitt told the news media, reading a statement from President Donald Trump in which he said, “After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons.
“Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. In time, it got worse due to curiosity,” the statement continued.
“This was not the enemy,” Trump said.
This is incredible. The Biden administration let the whole country freak out for weeks about drones and a possible drone threat when they approved the damn drones. Why did they help create panic instead of telling the truth and calming people down? Lunacy. pic.twitter.com/A48UraHzQe
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) January 28, 2025
There were numerous sightings of large numbers of drones, some of which reportedly were moving overland from the ocean, prompting some to speculate whether a foreign adversary, like Iran, was launching them from a ship off the East Coast.
Then-Defense Department deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters in mid-December, “At this time, we have no evidence that these activities are coming from a foreign entity or the work of an adversary.”
Regarding the notion the drones were being launched from the sea, she said, “There is not any truth to that. There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there’s no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States.”
JUST IN: The Pentagon is now DENYING earlier report from a NJ Congressman of a so-called “mothership” from Iran launching drones from off the coast of the Eastern U.S.
What is going on? pic.twitter.com/KKJo2Jd3Ef
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 11, 2024
So the Biden administration discounted the possibility that the drones were from a foreign foe.
However, at the same time, FBI Assistant Director Robert Wheeler testified before the House Homeland Security Committee that the agency did not know the source of the drones, but was “actively investigating” the matter.
Then-President-elect Trump told reporters last month, “The government knows what is happening.”
“Look, our military knows where they took off from,” Trump continued. “If it’s a garage, they can go right into that garage. They know where it came from and where it went. And for some reason, they don’t want to comment.”
President-elect Trump on drones: “The government knows what is happening. 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. For some reason they don’t want to comment.” pic.twitter.com/JdITHAv4KJ
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 16, 2024
A reporter also asked Trump whether he had received a briefing regarding the drones, to which he responded, “I don’t want to comment on that.”
That response suggested that he had some knowledge of the source of the drones, but was honoring the Biden administration’s wishes to not reveal it.
His general response on Tuesday about the flights being authorized by the FAA without further elaboration would seem to indicate the flights were government-related, perhaps involving national security issues.
