A Chinese balloon flew over Florida when the state’s resident Donald Trump was president, CNN reported Monday, citing a US military report. (Watch the video below.)
The account further refutes Trump’s claim that no Chinese surveillance balloons operated in US airspace while he was in the White House. And that hit a little close to home for Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago estate is in Palm Beach.
A US military assessment in April found that a high-altitude balloon from China “floated past Hawaii and through Florida” in 2019 while circling the world at about 65,000 feet, according to CNN.
A suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over the United States last week until President Joe Biden ordered it shot down over the Atlantic Ocean. Republicans led by Trump criticized the administration for allowing a potential spying tool to hover over the nation.
Trump also praised that Chinese inflatables never flew over the country when he was in charge. But a Pentagon official said this week that Chinese balloons had flown over the US mainland when Trump was president, albeit briefly.
China says the US overreacted by attacking the balloon, which it says was to collect weather data.
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