White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said drone flights over New Jersey that created panic last year were authorized by federal authorities.
Leavitt said the Federal Aviation Administration authorized them for "research" and various other reasons.
She said others were flown by hobbiests.
"This was not the enemy," Leavitt said, attributing the statement to President Donald Trump.
She made the announcement during her first White House press briefing on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old is the youngest person in that role.
"See you at the podium!" Leavitt said on X ahead of the briefing.
Trump said when he appointed her shortly after his election win in November that Leavitt was "smart, tough" and would "excel at the podium."
A veteran of the press office in his first term, she unsuccessfully ran for a seat in Congress in New Hampshire in 2022 on a pro-Trump, pro-gun ownership platform.
Then her steely appearances on television as Trump's 2024 campaign spokeswoman earned her the job as press secretary.
Her television appearances have almost exclusively been reserved for Fox News and the conservative Newsmax channel.
