Trump signs executive orders safeguarding American airspace from terror
President Donald Trump on Friday moved to ensure American airspace dominance and protect the U.S. from foreign threats from above.
“Summing up all three of today’s drones and aviation executive orders, our message is simple: American innovation belongs in American aerospace,” said Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Trump signed three executive orders, “Unleashing American Drone Dominance,” “Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty,” and “Leading the World in Supersonic Flight,” The Daily Signal has learned.
The drone order expands commercial drone operations, secures supply chains, and boosts U.S. manufacturing. It launches initiatives to secure the drone supply chain, reducing reliance on hostile foreign manufacturers.
“Since the beginning of his first term, President Trump has recognized the incredible potential of drones to boost American productivity, create high-skilled jobs and meet national needs in areas like public safety, infrastructure, inspection, agriculture, and more,” Kratsios told reporters on a conference call. “But for too long, red tape has hindered homegrown drone innovation, restricting commercial drone use, and burdening their development.”
The order also prioritizes American-made drones in federal procurement and enables the export of U.S. drones.
Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism, said the drone order was motivated by public outrage about the drones spotted over New Jersey this past winter.
“Drones are a disruptive technology,” Gorka said. “They have an amazing potential for both good and ill. The president understands this, and today, he will act decisively to allow American innovation while at the same time protecting our nation.”
The order will secure the skies from two type of drone users: “evildoers and idiots, the clueless and the careless,” he added.
The “Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty” creates a federal task force to modernize drone regulation and respond to security threats. It directs the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to integrate counterdrone efforts into Joint Terrorism Task Forces.
“We have a responsibility to protect and restore airspace sovereignty,” Kratsios said. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are securing our borders for national security threats, including in the air, with large scale public events, such as the Olympics and the World Cup on the horizon.”
It also directs the Federal Aviation Administration to expedite rules restricting drone flights over sensitive or critical areas.
The “Leading the World in Supersonic Flight” order promotes U.S. leadership in supersonic aviation by repealing regulations that the administration thinks have blocked commercial supersonic flight.
The order instructs the FAA to set new noise certification standards for supersonic aircraft and aims to allow coast-to-coast U.S. travel in less than four hours.
“The U.S. used to be the global leader in this technology, but regulations have grounded progress for generations,” Kratsios said.” Reality is that Americans should be able to fly from New York to L.A. in under four hours.”
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]