Melania Trump returns to Washington after four-week absence.

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After a four-week absence from Washington, first lady Melania Trump returned to the White House on Saturday for an annual dinner and reception with the nation’s governors. “She worked very hard on making sure that everything was beautiful. And she’s very good at that,” President Donald Trump said in brief remarks to governors in the candlelit East Room, his wife seated nearby at a table filled with overflowing vases of white hydrangeas and tulips. While Melania Trump may be preparing the White House for visitors — she announced in a statement last week that tours of the historic home are reopening to the public — the first lady apparently has had less interest in spending time there.  Since her husband took the oath of office on January 20, she has not spent significant time at the White House, according to sources with direct knowledge of her schedule. Melania Trump was an active presence during the first days of the president’s second term, but after joining her husband for...
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Mysterious New Jersey drones were 'not the enemy' - White House

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The mysterious drones that lit up skies across the US late last year were authorised by federal regulators and "not the enemy," the White House has announced.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had approved the drones for research and many also belonged to people in the area, President Donald Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at her first White House briefing on Tuesday.

The drones were spotted in New Jersey and other nearby states in November and December and led to rampant online speculation about their origins and intentions.

Authorities never provided definitive answers about the sightings, saying only that they

they were not a danger to the public or national security.

"In time, it got worse due to curiosity," Ms Leavitt said of the online rumours. "This was

 not the enemy."

The statement, made at Ms Leavitt's first official press conference for the Trump White 

House, is the most definitive statement yet that there was nothing nefarious about the phenomenon.

The previous Biden administration had also concluded there was likely no national

 security threat invovled.

Last December, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it received more than

 5,000 drone sighting tips from concerned citizens.

Even former Maryland governor Larry Hogan reported that he saw dozens of drones

 over his home. New York's governor touted the state's drone detecting technology to

 worried residents.

The FAA then temporarily restricted drone flights over 22 cities through January.

The previous Biden administration had previously confirmed that residents had spotted

 drones as well as manned aircraft, but officials had stressed there was "no foreign involvement".

The FAA regulates drone use and flights in the US. Nationally, more than one million 

drones are registered for use, according to the agency. About 409,000 are registered for commercial use, while about 385,000 are used recreationally.

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In mid December, four federal agencies declared the investigators had "not identified 

anything anomalous" about the reports.

The sightings, they said, were actually a combination of lawful drones from hobbyists 

and law enforcement, as well as planes, helicopters and "stars mistakenly reported as

 drones".


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