Trump says drones have been spotted over Bedminster, vows to figure out mystery sightings when he takes office
President-elect Donald Trump revealed Thursday that there have been numerous drones spotted over his Bedminster, NJ, golf course and he vowed to release a report on the mysterious flying objects shortly after taking office.
“They’re over Bedminster a lot,” Trump said of the surge in sightings of apparent unmanned aircraft that alarmed New Jersey residents and lawmakers last month.
“I’m going to give you a report on drones about one day into the administration, because I think it’s ridiculous that they’re not telling you about what’s going on with the drones,” the president-elect pledged during a Republican governors event at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump, 78, noted that several governors at the Palm Beach, Fla., meeting had also reported seeing drones in their states and wanted answers.
“We are home to the largest naval base in the world in Quantico,” GOP Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who was seated next to Trump at the event, told reporters. “And we also have a lot of the [Navy SEAL] teams and have a huge national security infrastructure and now for two years running, we have had drone incursion over secure airspace.”
“And we still don’t know why. And I think that’s absolutely unacceptable,” Youngkin added.
Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry also recounted suspicious drone activity over sensitive nuclear sites in his states that occurred around the same time an ISIS terrorist rammed his truck into a crowd of people in New Orleans.
“While we were dealing with a terrorist attack in New Orleans we had drones being flown over our nuclear reactors in Louisiana, and we brought that attention to the [Federal Aviation Administration],” Landry said. “We’ve been asking the FAA to give states the ability to mitigate these drones.”
“It is sitting on some bureaucrats desk, and that’s real,” the governor fumed.
The FBI said it has investigated approximately 5,000 reports of drone sightings it received from the public, with about 100 deemed credible.
Federal officials maintain the drones pose no threat to national security or the public at large but have not provided concrete answers about the origin and purpose of the objects involved in many of the most alarming incidents.
“They don’t want to talk about it, and nobody knows why,” Trump said of the Biden administration’s response to the drone surge.
“I hope it’s not an enemy, but we’re going to find out on the 21st,” the president-elect said, referring to the day after his Jan. 20 inauguration.
“You have to give me a little time for the inauguration but shortly thereafter, we’ll give you a report on it. We’ll tell you exactly what it is they know, and it’s very strange that they aren’t talking about it,” he added.