WASHINGTON — Unidentified drone activity was recently detected at Fort McNair, the Army base in southwest DC where both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reside, according to multiple reports.
Officials detected the drones above the base on a single night within the past 10 days, but couldn’t immediately determine their origin, the Washington Post reported, citing multiple sources.
With the military operating under a heightened state of alert due to the war with Iran, officials weighed moving Rubio and Hegseth to other quarters before deciding against doing so, according to the outlet.
Unidentified drone activity was recently detected at an army base in southwest DC, where both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reside, according to multiple reports. AP
CBS News reported Thursday morning that military officials do not believe there is a credible threat to Fort McNair at this time. “The department cannot comment on the secretary’s movements for security reasons, and reporting on such movements is grossly irresponsible,” Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told the Washington Post.
The Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Hegseth and Rubio have been publicly known to reside in Fort McNair since at least this past October, when their living situation was widely reported.
Fort McNair is home to the National Defense University and the top brass of the Pentagon.
Fort McNair is home to the National Defense University and the top brass of the Pentagon. Joint Task Force-National Capital Region and the U.S. Army Military District of Washington
Under the second Trump administration, the Army base has been used to house some civilian officials, such as White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, who moved his family there from northern Virginia due to security concerns.
Fort McNair has not traditionally been used to house civilian political leaders. Former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, for example, is known to have lived in Falls Church, Va., where his home was targeted by anti-Israel agitators during the Biden administration.
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Iran has previously threatened top US officials and is accused of multiple assassination plots targeting President Trump in revenge for the killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.
In 2022, a chilling video animation was posted on then-Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s website showing what appeared to be a drone or bomber looming over Trump while he was out playing golf.
A Department of the Army Civilian police scans the surroundings of Fort McNair, Washington, DC. Defense Media Activity – Army Productions
The Secret Service also dealt with multiple drone scares during the 2024 election cycle.
Earlier this week, the military was forced to lock down parts of MacDill Air Force Base, the home of US Central Command in Tampa, Fla., due to a suspicious package.
On Wednesday, the base went under shelter-in-place orders due to an unspecified security scare.
The State Department on Tuesday directed diplomatic posts worldwide to conduct security evaluations amid potential fallout from the war in the Middle East.