Trump Calls for Answers on Mystery Drones

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on Dec. 7, 2024. Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump expressed concern about mysterious drone sightings in the United States and called for additional information.

“Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country,” he said in a post on TruthSocial. “Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge? I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!”

Gov. Phil Murphy has requested additional federal resources amid heightened concerns about the drone, or unmanned aircraft system, sightings in New Jersey.

Drones have also been seen in parts of Pennsylvania.

White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said because of various concerns, the government couldn’t just shoot down the drones.

“The idea of taking something down again, you want to worry about public safety. First of all, we don’t have enough conclusions to take that kind of policy action,” he said in a Fox News interview on Dec. 13.

He said that assuming the government had more knowledge, “you’re not going to want to shoot something down where it could hit somebody’s house or hurt someone.”

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security previously told The Epoch Times that the agencies “have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus.”

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, suggested on Dec. 11 that the drones may have come from Iran.

“From very high sources, very qualified sources, very responsible sources, I’m going to tell you the real deal,” Van Drew said during an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner. “Iran launched a mothership probably about a month ago that contains these drones.

“That mothership is off … the east coast of the United States of America.”

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh denied an Iranian mothership was off the coast and that it was launching drones toward the United States. Van Drew responded by saying the Pentagon has been “incredibly weak with this.”

He said that individuals with high-security clearances “believe there’s a real possibility it could be Iran, that there could be a ship out—not right on the coast of New Jersey, not right there but these drones, as sighted by the Coast Guard, are coming in and out of the ocean.”

U.S. senators from New York and New Jersey sent a letter on Dec. 11 requesting a briefing from DHS, the FBI, and the Federal Aviation Administration. They noted that since late November, communities in northern New Jersey and the New York City area have reported drone sightings.

“Protecting civilian infrastructure, safety, and privacy as well as military assets and personnel will require a comprehensive response from Congress and the executive branch,” Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said in the letter.

Shortly before the president-elect commented on the sightings, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan posted a video on X on Friday, saying that he witnessed and recorded “what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky above my residence in Davidsonville, Maryland.” Hogan said the federal agencies’ response that the drones pose no threat is “entirely unacceptable.”

In a statement on Dec. 13, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) accused President Joe Biden’s administration of being “dismissive of New Jersey residents who have witnessed these drones in swarms.”

Smith said the administration’s “lack of decisive action and empty reassurances will only cause increased speculation and continue to escalate the valid concerns that so many people have.”

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.