Donald Trump claimed China had “never” sent a spy balloon over the United States, although the Pentagon claimed it had done so three times during his tenure.
On Saturday, an alleged “spy balloon” off the coast of South Carolina was shot down by American warplanes after crossing several US states at an altitude low enough to be seen with the naked eye – alarming millions across the country .
Trump compared the incident and the ensuing diplomatic crisis to the chaotic disengagement from Afghanistan that his successor, President Joe Biden, oversaw in August 2021.
“The Chinese balloon situation is a disgrace, as is the Afghanistan horror show and everything else surrounding the grossly incompetent Biden administration,” the former president wrote on his Truth Social app.
“They’re only good at election cheating and disinformation — and now they’re announcing that China deployed a balloon during the Trump administration to take the ‘heat’ off the slow-moving Biden fools.
Donald Trump denied that suspected Chinese spy balloons flew over the US during his tenure
One such suspected surveillance device was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday
“China had too much respect for ‘TRUMP’ for this to happen and it NEVER did. FALSE DISINFORMATION ONLY!’
The Department of Defense said Saturday that “Chinese balloons made brief transits of the continental United States at least three times during the previous administration.”
And on Sunday, FoxNews reported that at least one balloon flew over parts of Texas and Florida while Trump was in office.
In addition to the former president, several Trump officials have also disputed the Pentagon’s assessment and related media reports.
“That’s not true,” former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe bluntly told Fox News on Sunday morning.
“Remember the days of the Trump administration when photographers on the ground and commercial airline pilots were talking about a spy balloon over the United States that people could look up and see?”
He added: “I don’t remember that either. Because it didn’t happen.’
The former intelligence worker called the recently burst balloon “unprecedented”.
Trump compared the ensuing diplomatic crisis to the aftermath of the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021
“We have never had a circumstance where an adversary had spy ships over our country, our continental United States, posing a threat for the better part of a week in a row,” Ratcliffe said.
Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told CNN on Friday that he had never seen an incident like this happen under his supervision, adding, “I would certainly remember it.”
Richard Grenell, Trump’s former ambassador to Germany, accused the Pentagon of hiding behind anonymous sources.
“Biden’s DoD is shamelessly using an anonymous source to say Chinese balloons flew over the US under Trump – and the Trump team admitted it. It is a lie. We’ve never heard of it,” Grenell wrote on Twitter.
“And shame on the DC media activists who continue to allow the Biden team to be so weak by giving them help and comfort in their lies and weaknesses.”
Florida GOP Rep. Mike Waltz, a military veteran and close Trump ally in Congress, also suggested that the former president’s officials were unaware of such “spy balloons” during her tenure.
An F-22 Raptor fighter jet fired a single AIM-9X missile to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon and its payload, which was equipped with cameras, sensors and radars
“The Office of the Secretary of Defense has informed my office that there have been several incidents involving Chinese balloons in recent years – including over [Florida]'” Waltz explained on Twitter.
“And according to several Trump administration national security officials, they were never notified of these intrusions by the Pentagon.”
Biden told reporters Saturday he wanted the balloon down last Wednesday but was warned against giving the order because of the risk of civilians being injured by falling debris.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government has criticized the US launch of the balloon as an “overreaction”.
“The US used force to attack our civilian UAV, which is an apparent overreaction,” China’s foreign ministry said.
“We solemnly protest against this step by the US side.”
Beijing warned it “reserves the right to use any means necessary to deal with similar situations.”