Ric Grenell, the former acting director of National Intelligence during the Trump administration, believes that President Joe Biden failed to secure the trust of the American people when handling the incident involving the Chinese spy balloon and other flying objects that recently occupied North American airspace over a short window of time.
"Let's summarize the Biden policy: They didn't shoot down the balloon from China that was spying on us, as it went across the entire country. But they did shoot down balloons that were weather balloons right away," Grenell told Newsmax Friday afternoon, while appearing on "John Bachman Now" with host Bianca de la Garza.
Grenell continued: "They didn't admit any of this, and now we know that Joe Biden hasn't called President Xi yet. What? This is really concerning, because what we really need is a president who is transparent. We need someone who comes forward and says, We found this spy balloon, and we're going to shoot it down when it's in Alaska."
Grenell said the Biden White House should have taken an immediate stand against the Chinese government regarding the suspected spy balloon that was allowed to cross through Alaska, western Canada, and a large swath of the continental United States before being shot down over the Carolina coast on Feb. 4.
By not acting fast enough, Grenell said it likely demonstrated weakness to China and other U.S. adversaries.
The Biden administration "kept the secretary of state's schedule. They kept [the balloon] secret, and didn't tell anybody until they got caught, when someone in Montana said, Hey, what's that up in the sky?
"The biggest news here is ... why didn't Joe Biden pick up the phone, call Xi and ask, Why do you have a sky balloon flying across our country?" asked Grenell, while adding the entire incident was "really troubling" from a national security perspective.
During his Newsmax interview, Grenell also expressed frustration with the Biden administration not doing everything in its power to broker a peace deal in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
"I'm very concerned," said Grenell, also a former U.S. ambassador to Germany. Negotiators "need diplomatic options and military options. ... It's easier to negotiate peace with a credible military threat that's behind us."
Grenell then stated that Biden "needs both tools. He needs the threat of the Pentagon, and the diplomacy of the State Department" working on his behalf.
Biden, added Grenell, "needs the option of a peaceful solution."
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