'Prior or Post?' Jean-Pierre on When the U.S. Learned of Chinese Balloons Under Trump (February 6, 2023)

On Saturday, February 4, 2023, a U.S. Air Force F-22 shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina after it had drifted across the continental United States [3][6]. That weekend, Biden administration officials said Chinese balloons had also crossed the country at least three times during the Trump administration, and former Trump officials said nothing of the kind had happened on their watch [4][5]. At the White House briefing on Monday, February 6, reporters asked Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre how the earlier flights could have gone unnoticed, and when the government learned of them. This video shows her answer. Quotes from the briefing are from the official transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1].

Key Moments

”I don’t have any specific on any other balloon”

The first question was whether this was the first Chinese balloon the U.S. had identified over its airspace under the Biden administration. Jean-Pierre said the Chinese surveillance balloon program “has been around for some time,” that the administration had “briefed Congress this past August,” and: “So I don’t have any specific on any other balloon during this — during — during this President’s administration” [1].

”Prior or post?”

The next reporter asked: “How is it possible that this administration discovered at least three previous balloons that flew over the U.S. under the previous administration, but Trump officials didn’t know it was happening?” Jean-Pierre said the balloons had “transited the continental U.S. briefly at least three times, as you just mentioned, during the President’s — the prior administration and once that we know of the beginning of this administration’s. But never for this duration of time, as we know. This information was discovered prior to the admin- — administration left, but the intelligence community, as I said, is prepared to give — give briefings to key officials.” A reporter interjected: “Prior or post?” “Sorry, post,” she said. “So this is something that we — they did not — they were not aware of, as we’ve just laid out” [1].

”We learned of this … during the past administration”

Asked how the administration had become aware of the earlier flights, she said she would not discuss intelligence from the podium, then added: “What I can say is that we learned of this, the three prior, during the past administration. And — and so we’re — we are willing to share that information” [1]. Asked whether U.S. officials had raised the balloons with China, she said the administration would not discuss “private diplomatic conversations” and that what China did “was indeed a violation of international law.”

Background: What Officials Said That Weekend

On Sunday night, a senior Biden administration official said Chinese surveillance balloons had flown over the U.S. on at least three occasions during the Trump administration, and CBS News reported that “this information was not discovered until after Trump left office” [4]. NPR reported on Monday morning that, according to U.S. officials, the balloons had crossed the country “at least three times during the Trump administration and at least one other time earlier in the Biden administration,” and that the U.S. had not been aware of them at the time [2].

Former Trump officials rejected the claim. “This never happened. It would have never happened,” former President Donald Trump told Fox News Digital. His national security adviser John Bolton said: “I don’t know of any balloon flights by any power over the United States during my tenure, and I’d never heard of any of that occurring before I joined in 2018” [5].

The same afternoon, the commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, Gen. Glen VanHerck, gave the military’s account. “I will tell you that we did not detect those threats. And that’s a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out,” he told reporters. The intelligence community, he said, “after the fact,” had used “additional means of collection” and “made us aware of those balloons that were previously approaching North America or transited North America” [3]. Taken together, these accounts reconcile the two sides: the earlier flights happened during Trump’s term, but officials said they were identified only later, which is consistent with former Trump officials saying they were never told.

Fact Check

“I don’t have any specific on any other balloon during this President’s administration.” Contradicted by her own next answer, which acknowledged a flight “once that we know of the beginning of this administration’s,” and by NPR’s report the same day of a crossing “earlier in the Biden administration” [1][2].
“Discovered prior to the administration left … sorry, post.” Her correction matches what officials said: the earlier flights were not discovered until after Trump left office [4], and NORAD’s commander said the military did not detect them at the time [3].
“We learned of this, the three prior, during the past administration.” As worded, this said the opposite of her correction a minute earlier. She may have meant that the administration learned of the three flights that took place during the past administration, but she did not clarify, and the senior official’s account was that they were discovered only after Trump left office [4].
“Never for this duration of time.” Accurate. “U.S. officials say those incursions were brief — unlike the most recent one, which lasted for a week,” NPR reported [2]. The balloon first entered U.S. airspace on January 28 and flew over or near military sites in Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska and Missouri before it was shot down [4].

For other statements by Jean-Pierre that the record contradicted, see our article on her “$70 per gallon” mistake and other statements of hers that proved wrong.

What Happened Next

Three more shootdowns: In the days that followed, after NORAD adjusted its radar to pick up slower objects, Biden ordered three more unidentified objects taken down, over Alaska, over Canada and over Lake Huron. On February 16, he said the intelligence community’s assessment was that those three “were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research,” and that he had directed his team to draw up “sharper rules” for dealing with unidentified objects [7].
What the balloon gathered: On June 29, 2023, the Pentagon said it believed the Chinese balloon had not collected intelligence over the U.S. “We believe that it did not collect while it was transiting the United States or flying over the United States, and certainly the efforts that we made contributed,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said [6].