President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that the government should release more information about the recent drone sightings in New Jersey.
At his first news conference since becoming president, Trump criticized the Biden administration for not sharing more information about 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 people.”
“They are very close to Bedminster,” he added, referring to his golf club in New Jersey. ‘I think I might not spend the weekend in Bedminster. I have decided to cancel my trip.’
Trump declined to comment from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on whether he had received an intelligence briefing on the drones. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
New Jersey residents have reported seeing drones in the sky almost every night since Nov. 18, a senior official told NBC News last week. Residents of other states, including New York and Connecticut, have since reported similar symptoms.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and several key members of Congress have called on federal officials to release more information to the public as concerns mount and rumors spread. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., last week falsely claimed the drones came from Iran and encouraged residents to shoot them down — raising concerns that people might start shooting at planes carrying passengers. The Pentagon, which has said the drones are not operated by the US military, has denied the drones are linked to Iran.
In a joint statement last week, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said there is “no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a threat to national security or public safety, or are foreign-related.”
“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 in fact drones or instead manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate are observations. ” the statement said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
