President-elect Donald Trump accused President Joe Biden and the Pentagon of hiding intelligence about mystery drones and demanded they come clean with the American people.
Trump said the the president and military ‘know’ what the flurry of unidentified objects are but are refusing to reveal the information.
Unexplained drone sightings have been reported over military bases and airports in recent days in the northeastern U.S.
Trump, speaking at Mar-a-Lago, said: ‘For some reason they don’t want to comment. And I think they’d be better off saying. Our military knows, and our president knows… and for some reason [they] want to keep people in suspense.’
He added: ‘I can’t imagine it’s the enemy, because if it was the enemy they’d blast them down. Even if they were late. Something strange is going on. For some reason they don’t want to tell the people, and they should, because the people are really…’
The president-elect went on: ‘I mean, they happen to be over Bedminster.’
Trump said he nixed an upcoming trip to his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club due to the drone drama.
‘They’re very close to business. I think maybe I won’t spend the weekend in Bedminster. I decided to cancel my trip,’ he said.
When asked if he was receiving intelligence briefings on the drones he responded, ‘I don’t want to comment on that.’
Trump talked about the drone mystery at his first press conference since his election victory.
He also used the event to tout a $100 billion investment from Japanese-based SoftBank Group, appearing alongside CEO Masayoshi Son, and his Treasury Secretary pick Howard Lutnick.
The tech CEO announced the creation of 100,000 U.S. jobs in artificial intelligence and related infrastructure that will boost the economy heading into Trump’s second term.
‘Today I’m thrilled to announce that SoftBank will be investing $100 billion in America, creating 100,000 American jobs at a minimum,’ said the president-elect.
‘And he’s doing this because he feels very optimistic about our country since the election, and many of these people [are] also coming in with tremendous amounts of money.’
Trump then pressured Son during the Mar-a-Lago media frenzy, asking him to commit to doubling his commitment to $200 billion, which he signaled he was open to doing.
‘I’m going to ask him right now, would you make it $200 billion?’ asked Trump.
Son replied with laughter, saying Trump is clearly an excellent negotiator.
‘With your leadership, my partnership with you, with your support, I will try to make it up to $200 billion,’ he pledged.
The investment is expected to happen before the end of Trump’s four-year term.
The announcement comes on the heels of Trump promising to cut regulatory red tape for companies and individuals who pledge to invest at least $1 billion in the American economy.
‘Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals,’ Trump posted to Truth Social on Tuesday.
‘GET READY TO ROCK!!!’ he added.
Trump largely won reelection last month due to his hardline positions on illegal immigration and pledges to bolster the economy, with post-COVID inflation still problematic for the American consumer.
He’s since suggested that it may be difficult to bring down grocery prices.
During his ‘Person of the Year’ interview last week with Time magazine he said it would be ‘very hard’ to bring down food prices but answered in the negative when asked if his second term would be a ‘failure’ if he didn’t accomplish that task.
‘I don’t think so. Look, they got them up,’ he said, pointing to the Biden-Harris administration.
‘I’d like to bring them down. It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard,’ the president-elect added.
The Biden White House tried to decrease household costs in other ways – tackling the prices of prescription drugs, for example, or junk fees – but many voters expressed dissatisfaction with the cost of food and fuel when casting a ballot for Trump.
Making investment pledges will be another way Trump can show he’s responding to Americans’ economic anguish.
He’s also pledged to roll back Biden-era environmental regulations, often using the mantra ‘drill, baby, drill.’
On Tuesday, Biden’s economic advisor Jared Bernstein suggested that there was some bipartisan work to be done cutting regulations but also cautioned doing it in a hasty manner.
He was asked at the White House press briefing to respond to Trump’s pitch to cut regulations to companies investing more than $1 billion.
‘We’ve had tremendous foreign direct investment, and yes, we’ve definitely tried to make – clean the brush out – to help diminish the burden for permitting and things like that and there’s more to do in that space,’ Bernstein said, after saying he would hesitate to respond to a Trump tweet.
‘And I think there are members of Congress – that is I believe a bipartisan issue that we could be working on. So if the Trump team is serious about trying to clear some of that brush, sure but one thing I hear too often from him and them is without regard for any impact of some of the guardrails that are there for a reason,’ Bernstein said.
