What Donald Trump KNEW About the Chinese Spy Balloon

Trump's Pentagon didn't inform him

Chase Doak (Wikipedia)

According to statements over the weekend, Trump's Pentagon never informed the president or other White House officials about the spy balloons. An April 2022 report from the U.S. Air Force entitled “People’s Republic of China High-Altitude Balloon” details that the Pentagon found a China spy balloon “circumnavigated the globe” in 2019, which was while Donald Trump was president. According to the report, the balloon floated around 65,000 feet, and “drifted past Hawaii and across Florida before continuing its journey."

Spy balloon recovered by U.S. Navy

U.S. Navy

The U.S. Navy released photos on Tuesday showing the recovery of pieces of the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by a F-22 fighter jet, at the direction of President Joe Biden. The photos were allegedly taken Sunday after the jet shot down the 200-foot balloon. According to reports, similar balloons entered U.S. airspace earlier in Biden's presidency and during the presidency of former president Donald J. Trump.

Trump was not informed

President Donald J. Trump joined by senior White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway, Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar attends a White House Listening Session on Youth Vaping and Electronic Cigarette Epidemic Friday, Nov. 22, 2019, in the Cabinet Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

For days, former President Donald Trump and his allied Republicans have railed against President Joe Biden for not shooting down a Chinese spy balloon as it made its way across the United States. According to the Pentagon, the balloon first came into the U.S. space in Alaska at the end of January, but Biden wasn't told about it until several days later. At that point, it was nearing Montana when Biden told the military to shoot it down when safe to do so.

At least three incidents have been discovered

U.S. Navy

Military officials also announced Sunday that there were at least three incidents of spy balloons flying over the United States under Donald Trump's administration, which his aides have denied. The Pentagon came out with a clarification, saying that it wasn't caught at the time and only after the fact. There was no further elaboration. Trump then claimed: "The Chinese would never have floated the Blimp ('Balloon') over the United States if I were President!!!"

Trump questions if balloon was manned

Former President Donald Trump speaking at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida (Gage Skidmore)

It's unclear if the Pentagon or the White House will be willing to provide evidence or further information on the previous incidents. But Trump later decided to backtrack on his idea that he would have shot the balloon down immediately. "Who sends a Billion Dollar blimp, with the most sophisticated equipment in the World, and large enough to hold ten cars or 3 large buses, into a complex pattern over the United States, without it quite possibly being manned, such as the 'manned spacecraft?'" Trump asked.

Trump says he could have made a deal

Former President Donald Trump speaking in Tampa, Florida in July 2022 (Wikimedia Commons)

The Pentagon announced last week that the balloon "ha[d] the ability to maneuver” and that it likely wasn't as sophisticated as something like a satellite would be. Trump then came up with the idea of the negotiations: "China should have been called to ask. If 'no,' shoot it down, if 'yes,' negotiate the greatest deal EVER!" He didn't elaborate on what that "deal" would be. The comments also come after Trump said he would have shot the balloon down.

Bipartisan vote in Congress to denounce China

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in December 2021 (Wikimedia Commons)

On Thursday, Congressional lawmakers unanimously denounced China's use of a spy balloon that traversed the country last week. The vote drew united support from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. The resolution which passed Congress was "condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s use of a high-altitude surveillance balloon over United States territory as a brazen violation of United States sovereignty." The balloon was shot down by a U.S. F-22 fighter jet.

Romney has different opinion than Trump

Image via Screengrab.Romney makes up new 'precedent' to say he'll vote on a Trump Supreme Court nominee

Meanwhile, as President Joe Biden has been taking hits from some Republicans and Democrats over his handling of a Chinese spy balloon that entered American airspace last week, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said that he believed the president had taken the right course. In an interview with CNN's Manu Raju, Romney said that Biden had made the right call to wait to shoot down the balloon until it was over the ocean.

Romney praises Biden handling of balloon

History News Network

"I believe that the administration, the president, our military and intelligence agencies, acted skillfully and with care," Romney said. "Was everything done 100 percent correctly? I can't imagine that would be the case of almost anything we do. But I came away more confident." The Biden administration waited for days to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon, including while it passed over the heartland, saying that falling debris could damage people or property.

Soldiers pack debris from fallen spycraft

image.cnbcfm.com

U.S. Navy soldiers collected debris from the shot down balloon on Sunday, in photos that the Pentagon released on Tuesday. China called the balloon a weather device and condemned the United States' decision to shoot it down. Since then, U.S. officials have briefed allied governments, saying that the balloons have been spotted over five continents and repeatedly violated the airspace of sovereign nations.