Tuesday the White House faces a deadline to decide "whether Chinese drone maker DJI Technologies poses a national security threat," [1]reports Bloomberg . But their article notes it's "a decision with the potential to ground thousands of machines deployed by police and fire departments across the US."

One person making the case against the drones is Mike Nathe, a North Dakota Republican state representative described by the Post as "at the forefront of a nationwide campaign sounding alarms about the Made-in-China aircraft." Nathe tells them that "People do not realize the security issue with these drones, the amount of information that's being funneled back to China on a daily basis."

> The president already signed [2]anexecutive order in June targeting "foreign control or exploitation" of America's drone supply chain. That came after Congress mandated a review to determine whether DJI deserves inclusion in a federal register of companies believed to endanger national security. If DJI doesn't get a clean bill of health for Christmas, it could join Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and [3]ZTE Corp .on that [4]Federal Communications Commission list . The designation would give the Trump administration authority to prevent new domestic sales or even impose a flight ban, affecting public agencies from New York to North Dakota to Nevada...

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> The fleet used by public safety agencies nationwide exceeds about 25,000 aircraft, said Chris Fink, founder of Unmanned Vehicle Technologies LLC, a Fayetteville, Arkansas-based firm that advises law-enforcement clients. The overwhelming majority of those drones — called uncrewed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, in industry parlance — comes from China, said Jon Beal, president of the [5]Law Enforcement Drone Association , a training and advocacy group that counts DJI and some US competitors as corporate sponsors...

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> Currently, at least half a dozen states have [6]targeted DJI and other Chinese-manufactured drones, including restrictions in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. A Nevada law prohibiting public agencies from using Chinese drones took effect in January... Legislators also took up the cause in Connecticut, which passed a law this year preventing public offices from using Chinese drones. Supporters said they're worried about these eyes in the skies being used for spying. "We're kind of sitting ducks," said Bob Duff, the Democratic majority leader in the state senate who promoted the legislation. "They are designed to infiltrate systems even when the users don't think that they will."

One North Dakota sheriff's department complains U.S.-made drones are "at least double and triple the price out of the gate," according to the article, which adds that public safety officials "say it's difficult to find domestic alternatives that match DJI in price and performance."

And DJI "wants an extension on the security review," according to the article, "saying Tuesday is too soon to make a conclusion."



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/the-chinese-made-drones-used-by-us-police-face-a-maga-fueled-reckoning/ar-AA1SAMsM

[2] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/unleashing-american-drone-dominance/

[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-25/fcc-bans-huawei-zte-telecom-equipment-from-sale-in-us-lawwfpb3

[4] https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist

[5] https://www.ledauas.org/

[6] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-07/chinese-drone-maker-dji-shut-out-of-washington-with-us-market-at-risk