Officials within the Trump administration and the White House are speaking out for the first time about the mysterious drones that have been seen across New Jersey and much of the Northeast since late 2024.

The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters moments ago that the drones were “authorized to be flown by the FAA.” She said that news was shared directly from President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

"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,” Leavitt said.

The exact nature of that research (or even who was conducting the research) was not immediately clear.

READ MORE: These Are the Latest Drone Sightings Since Trump Took Office

Apparently, it also spiraled a bit more into more than that as other drones went into the sky each night.

“Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy," Leavitt said on Tuesday afternoon.

President Trump had criticized the previous administration under former President Joe Biden for not revealing more details about the drones at the time when they were concerning residents across New Jersey.

Trump had promised to reveal the truth about the drones to the American public once he was in office. Today’s announcement marks the first public comments on these drones from his administration.

As the reports and concern about these drones increased, the FAA began issuing grounding rules for drones across the Northeast.

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