Leavitt reveals NJ drones ‘authorized’ by FAA in 1st press briefing of Trump administration
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the mystery drones flown across New Jersey in late 2024 were “authorized to be flown by the FAA” in the first press briefing of President Donald Trump’s second administration.
“I do have news directly from the president of the United States that was just shared with me in the Oval Office, from President Trump directly, an update on the New Jersey drones,” Leavitt said.
“After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons. Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones,” she added. “In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.”
In December, Trump suggested the Biden administration knew more than it was revealing to the public about the drones, which were spotted throughout the East Coast, though Leavitt did not say whether the drones spotted outside New Jersey were all lawful.
“They know where it came from and where it went,” Trump said. “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.”
Ahead of his inauguration, Trump vowed to give a report on drones “about one day” into his administration while speaking with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago on Jan. 9 “because I think it’s ridiculous that they are not telling you about what’s going on with the drones.”
However, the Biden administration had on Dec. 16 said in a multiagency statement from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the FAA and the Department of Defense that though there were indeed drones flying over New Jersey, they constituted a “combination” of lawful aerial activity.
“Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones,” the joint statement said.
The drone activity, which was first reported on Nov. 19 by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, caused temporary flight restrictions in New Jersey throughout November and December, notably in Bedminster, New Jersey, where the president has a golf club, and over the Picatinny Arsenal military base.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — If she is confirmed as director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard would be the youngest-ever in that role, the first millennial, the first Asian American, and only the second woman to hold the position.
But she is expected to face questions in her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee about statements she has made that appear to support U.S. enemies and dictators as well as having no significant experience in intelligence. Gabbard can afford to lose the votes of only three Republicans and sources tell ABC News the vote on her nomination is expected to be a close one.
Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., began his opening statement by expressing “dismay” at what he characterized as unfair attacks on Gabbard’s patriotism, citing Hillary Clinton’s accusation that she was “an asset of a foreign nation,” referring, of course, to Russia.
Cotton said he personally “spent two hours” reviewing Gabbard’s past background checks and found them “clean as a whistle.”
“No doubt she has some unconventional views,” Cotton acknowledged, but suggested any criticism from Democrats reflects their frustration that she “saw the light” and left their party.
In his opening statement, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the committee’s top Democrat, ticked through a litany of Gabbard’s more controversial public statements to demonstrate what he called his “significant concerns about your judgment and your qualifications.”
“Now I don’t know if your intent in making those statements was to defend those dictators, or if you were simply unaware of the intelligence and how your statements would be perceived,” Warner said. “In either case, it raises serious questions about your judgment.”
In excerpts from her opening statement, Gabbard confronts her critics.
“The truth is: what really upsets my political opponents is my consistent record of independence, regardless of political affiliation, and my refusal to be anyone’s puppet. You know who else is committed to defending our country and reforming Washington with a fierce and unparalleled independence, President Donald J. Trump who ran and won with a mandate for change this November,” she says in the excerpt.
For most of her career, Gabbard has broken barriers. She was the youngest woman ever elected to a state house of representatives and the first to graduate from the Accelerated Officer Candidate School at the Alabama Military Academy as a distinguished honor graduate. In Congress, she was the first Samoan American, the youngest woman elected at the time, and the first combat veteran to serve — a distinction she shares with Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
Gabbard has prepared extensively over the past two months for her hearings, meeting with former DNI leaders, including John Negroponte, the first DNI, and Michael Allen, who led Negroponte’s confirmation hearing preparations. She also has consulted with former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden, along with Trump allies Morgan Ortagus, deputy special presidential envoy for Middle East peace, and FBI director nominee Kash Patel.
She has sought input from a broad range of intelligence experts, former government officials and lawmakers across the aisle. She has participated in policy roundtables with lawyers, ex-intelligence officials, and national security negotiators, including figures involved in the Abraham Accords.
She also held a full-scale mock confirmation hearing ahead of Thursday’s Senate Intelligence Committee proceedings. Former Republican Sen. Richard Burr, who chaired the committee from 2015 to 2020, will introduce her.
Sources on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill tell ABC News Gabbard will likely face scrutiny over her past stances on Russia, Ukraine, Syria, and Iran, as well as her defense of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who reached a plea deal with the Justice Department over disseminating classified documents he had obtained illegally. Gabbard said last year on “Real Time With Bill Maher” that “the charges against him are one of the biggest attacks on freedom of the press that we’ve seen and freedom of speech.”
As a member of Congress, Gabbard introduced a bill in 2020 calling for the federal government to drop all charges against Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who leaked information in 2013 about how the U.S. government surveils the American public.
She’s also expected to face question on her reversal on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a key surveillance tool she voted against reauthorizing in 2020, her last year in Congress.
Gabbard argued that Americans shouldn’t be forced to choose between security and liberty, saying that the Patriot Act and FISA have “been allowing for the abuses of our civil liberties and overreach by our own intelligence and law enforcement agencies through doing things like warrantless sweeping collection of our data, violating our Fourth Amendment constitutional rights.”
Gabbard is also expected to face questions past statements about former President Donald Trump including her decision to vote present on Donald Trump’s.
Over the last two months, Gabbard has met with more than 50 senators, primarily Republicans. The meetings have largely served as an introduction — an opportunity to explain her past positions and assuage concerns about her political evolution. A source close to her told ABC News, “They know they can’t put her in a box. She’s not a Democrat. She’s a new Republican. She has very similar, if not 100% aligned, views with President Trump on ‘America First’ foreign policy. That makes people uneasy because they can’t quite figure her out.”
Gabbard, like Trump, is a former Democrat whose policy views have shifted significantly. Her evolution has been shaped by her 22 years in the Army, including deployments to Iraq, Kuwait, and Djibouti. If confirmed, she will be the first female DNI to have served in the military. She plans to continue serving in the Army Reserve, which is permitted under ODNI regulations.
Behind the scenes, Gabbard has earned bipartisan support within the intelligence community for her willingness to engage with a range of stakeholders. Earlier this month, the families of two former ISIS and al-Qaeda hostages publicly endorsed her nomination in a letter shared with ABC News. The parents of Kayla Mueller, who was killed by ISIS, and Theo Padnos, a former al-Qaeda hostage, argued that the radicalization of individuals — such as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who drove his truck into a crowd of New Orleans New Year’s revelers — underscores the need for Gabbard’s swift confirmation.
The letter of support came under scrutiny by some lawmakers after rebels toppled Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. Gabbard met with Assad in Syria in 2017, which remains a point of controversy. She has previously defended the trip as a “fact-finding mission” and has maintained that U.S. intervention in Syria empowered extremist groups.
Gabbard warned in the same year that she was concerned that toppling Assad’s regime could lead to groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda to step in to fill the void and “completely massacre all religious minorities there in Syria.”
“I had no intention of meeting with Assad, but when given the opportunity, I felt it was important to take it,” Gabbard said in a 2017 statement. “We should be ready to meet with anyone if there’s a chance it can help bring about an end to this war.”
Padnos, who was kidnapped by the al-Nusra Front in 2012 and held for nearly two years, said Gabbard’s willingness to engage with hostage families compelled him to speak out.
“This is a woman with deep compassion for the victims of terrorism and the courage to get things done,” he told ABC News. “Nobody else has offered their help — except Tulsi.”
Gabbard told ABC News that she was “honored and humbled by that statement of support.”
She has also received backing from law enforcement. The National Sheriffs’ Association endorsed her nomination, citing her commitment to bridging intelligence gaps between federal agencies and local authorities. In a statement, the group praised Gabbard’s pledge to give sheriffs “a seat at the table” in national security discussions.
Sheriff Kieran Donahue, president of the National Sheriffs’ Association, wrote “Gabbard has demonstrated a commitment to addressing the critical disconnect between our intelligence agencies and local law enforcement in preparing for sophisticated and pervasive threats.”
A source close to Gabbard told ABC News that her focus as director of national intelligence will be on restoring trust in the intelligence community and reforming what is and isn’t classified. Specifically, she aims to ensure that the intelligence provided to the Senate and White House is not information already available to lawmakers through media outlets. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers have expressed concern about the overclassification of information.
The source added that Gabbard intends to provide more accurate, raw intelligence to help lawmakers make informed decisions, rather than relying on overclassified data. She also plans to streamline the process for security clearances and return ODNI to its original mission — leading the intelligence community by fostering integration, collaboration and innovation.
Her allies argue that her outsider perspective will help modernize the intelligence community — though critics remain skeptical of her lack of traditional experience.
Thursday’s hearing will test whether Gabbard can win over skeptics — or if her controversial past will derail her bid to become the nation’s top intelligence officer.
(WASHINGTON) — With just days left in his administration, President Joe Biden will sign a new executive order focused on bolstering the infrastructure needed to for advanced AI operations in the U.S., according to the White House.
“I am signing an historic Executive Order to accelerate the speed at which we build the next generation of AI infrastructure here in America, in a way that enhances economic competitiveness, national security, AI safety, and clean energy,” Biden said in a Tuesday statement on the announcement.
The order will direct the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to lease federal sites where the private sector can build AI infrastructure “at speed and scale,” he said.
“These efforts are designed to accelerate the clean energy transition in a way that is responsible and respectful to local communities, and in a way that does not impose any new costs on American families,” Biden added.
Tarun Chabra, deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for technology and national security, said on a call previewing the order that it’s “really critical” for national security to establish a path for building the data centers and power infrastructure in the U.S.
“Domestic data centers for training and operating powerful AI models will help the United States facilitate AI’s safe and secure development and harness AI in the service of our national security,” he said. “It will also prevent our adversaries from accessing these powerful systems to the detriment of our military and our national security, while preventing the United States from growing dependent on other countries to access powerful AI tools.”
Biden underscored the importance of AI in his remarks at the State Department on Monday.
“AI has the power to reshape, reshape economies, governments, national security, entire societies. And it must be the United States and our closest allies lead the way to ensure people’s rights are respected, their safety is protected, and their data is secure,” Biden said.
Officials on a call with reporters noted current strains on the AI market to make investments needed for large-scale operations saying their cost, power constraints and permitting challenges resulting in long lead times to bring data centers to market.
“The Executive Order directs certain agencies to make federal sites available for AI data centers and new clean power facilities, facilitate this infrastructure’s interconnection to the electric grid, fulfill permitting obligations expeditiously, and advance transmission development around federal sites,” according to a fact sheet on the announcement.
Specifically, the order will direct the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to identify at least three federal sites each they own for these types of developments and allow private sector companies to bid competitively on leases to build on the sites.
(WASHINGTON) — The National Guardsman who in 2021 pegged Pete Hegseth as a potential “insider threat” clarified in an interview with ABC News that his complaint targeted a “Deus Vult” tattoo on the former Fox News host’s arm — not a cross on his chest, as Hegseth has repeatedly claimed.
President-elect Donald Trump last week tapped Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense. He listed Hegseth’s experience as a veteran and his media experience as his reasons for the choice.
As Reuters and The Associated Press first reported, Sgt. DeRicko Gaither sent an image of the “Deus Vult” tattoo to Maj. Gen. William Walker shortly before President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The phrase, which translates from Latin to “God wills it,” has been co-opted by white nationalist groups, experts have said.
“This information is quite disturbing, sir,” Gaither wrote in the email to Walker, who has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment. “This falls along the lines of (an) Insider Threat.”
Hegseth claimed in his book “The War on Warriors” that his “orders were revoked” ahead of Biden’s inauguration because fellow service members had flagged a tattoo of the Jerusalem Cross on his chest as a white nationalist symbol. As a result, Hegseth wrote, he resigned from the military.
But Gaither clarified in a text message to ABC News that his complaint targeted the “Deus Vult” tattoo, despite “the narrative that has been out there.”
“Just so we are clear. This has NOTHING to do with the Jerusalem Cross tattoo on his chest,” Gaither wrote in the text. “This has everything to do with the ‘DEUS VULT’ Tattoo on his inner bicep.”
Gaither’s sensitivity to what he described as the “disturbing” imagery in Hegseth’s tattoos came at a time when the military was grappling with the fact that dozens of active and former service members had participated in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Gaither, who confirmed to ABC News the contents of his complaint — which he wrote just one week after Jan. 6, emphasized that “this wasn’t then and isn’t now a personal attack towards Pete Hegseth.”
“The information received and [the] email sent on January 14th was the protocol that had to be followed because of the position assignment that I was assigned to,” explained Gaither, who was at the time assigned as the Guards’ head of security. “The protocol was followed and would be followed again if this issue involved any other service member, myself included.”
As ABC News has reported, Hegseth fired back at the initial coverage of this matter in The Associated Press by claiming it was “Anti-Christian bigotry.”
“They can target me — I don’t give a damn — but this type of targeting of Christians, conservatives, patriots and everyday Americans will stop on DAY ONE at DJT’s DoD,” Hegseth wrote on X.
