Trump weighs in on border lasers

While flying aboard Air Force One this week, President Donald Trump surprised reporters with a handpicked playlist that ranged from Dolly Parton and ABBA to opera and WWE entrance music.

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“I just wanted to make sure everyone’s OK with the music?” Trump said. “I just want to make you happy.”

Trump visited the press cabin to take questions, and the topic quickly switched from music to high-tech security at the southern border when he was asked about the laser weapons the military has been using against drones coming across the border.

Trump said, “Laser’s gonna be a big thing, because it’s a lot less expensive than sending up Patriots,” and “they are virtually 100% accurate.”

CBS News reported firing a laser costs as little as $3 per shot, while Patriot missiles cost millions of dollars to make.

Cartel drones have been crossing into Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border, and lasers have been used to shoot them down.

Lasers vs. cartel drones

In April, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Pentagon reached an agreement clearing laser operations in U.S. airspace.

These illegal drone incursions over the border in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas have dropped by 75% since the U.S. Army began deploying high-energy lasers, the Hill reported, citing Customs and Border Protection sources.

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This year, more than 300 suspected cartel drones have been downed by the military, 11 of which have been taken down by the Army’s multipurpose high energy laser (AMP-HEL).

AMP-HEL is part of Operation Ardent Vanguard, a broader effort by the U.S. Northern Command to secure and protect the southern border.

“The lasers are very, very good for … certain types of missiles, certain slower missiles,” Trump said. “I think the laser is gonna be the future.”

Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said, “JTF Southern Border’s combined arms approach and fusion with mission partners is delivering a new layer of homeland defense capability to counter illegal activity on the border.”

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi commented on the military’s efforts to take down the drones and said that “that’s what we all should care about right now: protecting America.”