President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that the government should disclose more information about the recent drone sightings in New Jersey.
At his first press conference since winning the presidency, Trump criticized the Biden administration for not sharing more information on the drones, which were first spotted in New Jersey in November and have since become a national topic of concern and conspiracy theories.
“Something strange is going on,” he added. “For some reason, they don’t want to tell the people.”
“They’re very close to Bedminster,” he added, referring to his New Jersey golf club. “I think maybe I won’t spend the weekend in Bedminster. I’ve decided to cancel my trip.”
Trump, speaking from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, declined to comment on whether he had received an intelligence briefing about the drones. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Residents of New Jersey have reported seeing drones in the sky nearly every night since Nov. 18, a senior official briefed on the drones told NBC News last week. Residents in other states, including New York and Connecticut, have since then reported similar phenomena.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and several key members of Congress have called on federal officials to release more information to the public as concerns grow and rumors run rampant. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., falsely claimed last week that the drones came from Iran and encouraged residents to shoot them down — stoking concerns that people could start shooting at planes with passengers. The Pentagon, which has said the drones aren’t U.S. military-operated, has denied the drones were linked to Iran.
In a joint statement last week, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said there is “no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.”
“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 statement said.
