Did unauthorized drones fly over the White House on January 13, 2025? No, that's not true: There's no proof to back up that claim. The Civil Air Patrol, which was running drone exercises in the Washington area from January 13 to 15, 2025, told Lead Stories, "There were no unauthorized drone flights over the White House at any time on Jan. 13."
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on January 13, 2025, with the caption:
Breaking News: Unauthorized Drones are currently flying over the White House as the FBI says that they're not tracking any credible threats for Trump's inauguration.
The caption topped a post (archived here) from another X account on the same day, which said:
FBI special agent David Sundberg admits, 'we are not currently tracking any specific or credible threats to the inaugural ceremony or to the complex.'
There's no way the FBI hasn't received any threats for Trump's inauguration.
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Jan 14 16:59:16 2024 UTC)
The post did not give any proof to support its assertion that unauthorized drones flew over the White House on January 13, 2025.
Air Force
The claim follows an early January 2025 announcement from the Air Force and Civil Air Patrol about drone exercises near Washington, D.C. In a January 14, 2025, email to Lead Stories, 1st Lt. Kristi Stiles from Joint Base Andrews provided this statement. It said:
From Jan. 13-15, the Civil Air Patrol, in support of Air Forces Northern, will conduct calibration flights with small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) over Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Joint Base Andrews and Washington Navy Yard. The purpose of these flights is to test the integration of various sensors and systems. To ensure a safe and efficient operation, all flights have been carefully scheduled and coordinated in advance.
Residents in the area can expect to see small unmanned aerial vehicles flying over the bases during this time. We want to assure the public that these flights are carefully planned and executed to minimize any potential disruption to daily activities.
Civil Air Patrol
Steve Cox, public affairs manager with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), responded to the social media post's claim in a January 14, 2025, email to Lead Stories. He said:
There were no unauthorized drone flights over the White House at any time on Jan.13.
Cox attributed the information to CAP Operations. The CAP also provided the same statement as the Air Force to Lead Stories, announcing the drone exercises from January 13 to January 15, 2025.
The CAP is a federally chartered nonprofit organization and the official civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, providing emergency response, aviation services, youth programs and aerospace education.
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Additional Lead Stories fact checks of claims involving drones can be found here.
