On Wednesday night, the Washington Post reported that “U.S. officials detected unidentified drones above the Washington Army base where Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth live” and that those officials have not yet determined where they came from.
WaPo cites three “sources familiar with the situation,” so keep that in mind.
U.S. officials detected unidentified drones above the Washington Army base where Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth live. Unclear where it came from. — WaPo pic.twitter.com/vqr8nSzKQ6
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) March 19, 2026
🚨 BREAKING: U.S. officials detected unidentified drones above the Washington Army base where Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth live. Officials have not determined where they came from. – WaPo
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 19, 2026
BREAKING: Unidentified drones reportedly observed over Washington Army base where Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth live.
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) March 19, 2026
One of the sources, who the newspaper says is a “senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity” said that the military is currently monitoring threats more closely due to the “heightened alert level as the United States and Israel strike Iran.”
In this case, “multiple drones were spotted over Fort Lesley J. McNair on a single night in the last 10 days.” This led to increased security and a White House meeting to determine how to respond.
Here’s more:
The drone sightings in Washington come as the U.S. issued a global security alert for overseas diplomatic posts and locked down several domestic bases because of threats. This week, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and MacDill Air Force Base in Florida raised their force protection level to Charlie — a designation that means the commander has intelligence indicating an attack or danger is possible. The only higher alert level, Delta, is for when an attack has occurred or is anticipated.
Officials are now debating whether to relocate Secretaries Hegseth and Rubio, who are still living at Fort McNair.
Back in the fall, several news outlet reported that both men had moved to military bases, along with Donald Trump’s Homeland Security advisor, Stephen Miller. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also had to move to a military base. According to the Atlantic, other members of the administrative have as well.
This is a developing story. I’m writing just after midnight (EDT) on Wednesday night, so hopefully, we’ll know more on Thursday.
Want to support conservative media? You can do so by becoming a PJ Media VIP member. It’s less than $20 for the entire year, and you get some cool perks too. We can’t wait to have you!
