“We’re Going to Take Care of It”: Biden Makes First Comments About Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Now Over The Carolinas

“We’re going to take care of it,” President Joe Biden said on Saturday, making his first comments about the Chinese spy balloon, which has been floating over the United States and delaying Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to China. The administration is considering a plan to down the balloon once it is above the Atlantic Ocean, AP reported.

His comments come after a second spy balloon was spotted over Latin America on Friday.

The balloon was first spotted on Wednesday over Montana. On Saturday, after the balloon was spotted floating over North Carolina, the FAA ordered a “ground stop” for three airports in the Carolinas for “national security effort” CNN reported.

China took credit for the balloon, but said it was a weather balloon that was blown off course. The U.S. has rejected that assertion, as Blinken said on Friday that officials were “confident” it is a surveillance balloon.

Blinken added that he told his counterpart, China’s top foreign policy official, Wang Yi via phone call that the balloon’s presence was an “irresponsible act” and a “clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law.”

In a statement after the call, Wang Yi said that China always abides by international law, and claimed that the trip wasn’t postponed because it was never made official: “As a matter of fact, neither China nor the US has announced any visits. It is the US’s own business to release relevant information, and we respect that.”

The GOP has been calling on Biden to order to shoot down the balloon, but military officials have warned the president against doing that. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin explained that the balloon seemed not to “pose a significantly enhanced threat on the intelligence side,” whereas downing it could endanger Americans on the ground.