Trump On Drone Sightings: ‘The Government Knows What Is Happening’
President-elect Donald Trump declined on Monday to say whether he had been briefed by U.S. intelligence on the series of drone sightings across the East Coast, but he was confident the government knows more than they are telling the public.
“The government knows what is happening,” Trump told reporters in Mar-a-Lago. “Our military knows where they took off from … They know where it came from and where it went. And for some reason, they don’t want to comment, and 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.”
“I can’t imagine it’s the enemy, because if it was the enemy, they’d blast it out,” the incoming president said.
“Something strange is going on,” Trump added. “For some reason, they don’t want to tell the people, and they should.”
Drones have captivated residents in New Jersey and New York for days as mysterious objects roam East Coast skies and are now being spotted in California.
“Many of the corroborated sightings have turned out to be piloted aircraft. I didn’t say all of them, and what I said was those are the ones we were able to corroborate,” White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said on Fox News’ “The Story” last week. “There certainly is ones that we have not been able to, and we don’t know the answer to it, and I strongly recommend that for folks that are seeing these things and documenting them to share that as they can with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.”
“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat or have a foreign nexus,” Kirby also told reporters at a White House briefing on Thursday.
“The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating these sightings, and they’re working closely with state and local law enforcement to provide resources, using numerous detection methods to better understand their origin,” Kirby added.
State and local officials have complained about a lack of information from the federal government related to the aircraft spotted up and down the East Coast.
“This has gone too far,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul reportedly said in a statement after drones closed runways at Stewart International Airport. The governor ordered the New York State Intelligence Center to begin its own investigation into the air incursions alongside federal law enforcement, according to reports.
A local ABC affiliate in New York reported on Monday that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security “deployed infrared cameras and drone detection” equipment to assess safety risks.
“The agencies are also looking at social media and other photos to determine what exactly is in the photos,” the outlet reported. “Most of the photos and video depict manned aircraft, according to a law enforcement source.”
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