Trump Says Spy Balloon 'Never Happened' Under His Presidency — Or Did They? Team Biden Reportedly Has Proof

The Biden administration offered to brief former President's officials on newly discovered intelligence that Beijing sent spy balloons into U.S. airspace during Donald Trump's tenure in the top office.

What Happened: The comments from President Joe Biden-led administration came after Trump and senior members of his national security team said they were never briefed on such an incursion by a Chinese-sent aircraft.

"This information was discovered after the prior administration left. The intelligence community is prepared to offer key officials from the Trump administration briefings on [China's] surveillance program," one of the anonymous officials told Politico.

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The officials said they would also be willing to discuss Xi Jinping's similar operations in East Asia, South Asia and Europe over the past many years.

Chinese spy balloons flew over the U.S. thrice during Trump’s presidency, Bloomberg reported, citing senior administration officials, but their incursions weren't discovered until after Biden took office.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump accused Biden of claiming the Chinese overflights during his tenure because "they look so bad."

"This never happened," he said, adding, "It would have never happened."

Meanwhile, China called the U.S. military’s shooting down of the balloon on Saturday off the coast of North Carolina an "obvious overreaction." Xi's officials said the airship had unintentionally entered U.S. airspace "due to force majeure." 

Taiwan – which has repeatedly had Chinese balloons floating over its territory – said the incident "should not be tolerated by the civilized international community" as such actions contravene international law. 

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