The Trump administration announced on Monday that all foreign-made drones and their components posed “unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States” and would be put on a federal blacklist of equipment makers prohibited from selling their goods freely in the country.
A fact sheet released by the Federal Communications Commission left some room for exceptions. The Pentagon or the Department of Homeland Security can clear a drone or component for use. But it heralded a new reality that American drone pilots have been dreading for months: New models produced by DJI, the Chinese manufacturer that makes most of the world’s drones, will no longer be sold in the United States. The statement did not mention DJI by name.
“The F.C.C. will work closely with U.S. drone makers to unleash American drone dominance,” Brendan Carr, the commission’s chairman, said in a statement.
Many of the nearly half a million registered drone pilots in the United States have built small businesses with DJI equipment. The drones perform a variety of jobs, such as spraying farmers’ fields with fertilizer, surveying land, monitoring construction projects and inspecting roofs and utility lines.
“People are pissed — incredibly, incredibly pissed — about the whole thing,” said Vic Moss, the volunteer director of the Drone Advocacy Alliance, which represents pilots who want to continue to buy DJI drones.
One reason the administration did not try to ban the use of drones that Americans already possess, he said, was that doing so would impede emergency workers. Law enforcement agencies across the country use fleets of DJI drones to track down fleeing suspects, lost hikers and the bodies of children who have washed away in floods.
The seeds of the decision were planted in Congress a year ago, when the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act mandated a determination by Dec. 23, 2025, about whether video surveillance equipment produced by DJI or Autel Robotics, another Chinese manufacturer, posed a security threat. The language came from a bill written by Representative Elise Stefanik, Republican of New York, who vowed to “ensure Chinese drones are banned from American skies.”
Many in the drone industry expected a comprehensive examination of the technology to see if DJI drones contained secret back doors that shared information with entities in China. Instead, the decision appears to have been based on a simple review of what government agencies already knew.
For months, DJI has written letters to U.S. officials asking for a rigorous audit.
“We stand ready to work with you, to be open and transparent, and provide you with the necessary information to complete a thorough review,” Adam Welsh, head of global policy for DJI, wrote in a letter this month to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others.
The decision, while not unexpected, deeply disappointed drone pilots around the country, most of whom own and operate DJI equipment.
Trump Administration: Live Updates
Updated
- Canada announces a former BlackRock executive as its new U.S. ambassador.
- The Agriculture Department shed a fifth of its workers in the first half of the year.
- Trump halts five wind farms off the East Coast, citing unspecified national security risks.
DaCoda Bartels, chief operating officer of FlyGuys, a company that connects commercial drone pilots with freelance work around the country, said he owned the first DJI drone — the Phantom V-1 — and every updated version since then. Now, he faces the prospect of being cut off from the improvements that the company releases each year.
“DJI as a company will still be innovating and offering their products in other countries,” Mr. Bartels said. “We just won’t have access to them. That’s unfortunate.”
American-made versions are four times as expensive, he said, and “half as good.”
But the announcement was cause for celebration for the fledgling American drone companies that pushed for such an opening.
“This was a historic decision that will change everything for U.S. drone manufacturers,” said a statement from BRINC, a Seattle-based manufacturer that makes drones for public safety. “BRINC and our peer companies are ready to meet the call for service to rebuild the American drone industry.”
Another company that hopes to fill the void left by DJI is Skydio, a U.S. drone company that hired Joe Bartlett, Ms. Stefanik’s former national security adviser, as its director of federal policy. Mr. Bartlett is now the deputy under secretary in the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which played a role in determining DJI’s fate. Skydio declined to comment.
Unusual Machines, a Florida manufacturer of drone components, also stands to benefit from the decision. In a statement to The New York Times on Monday, its chief executive, Allan Evans, said the decision meant domestic manufacturers “have both an opportunity and a responsibility to build and deliver world-class products as quickly as possible.” Donald Trump Jr. sits on his advisory board.
The F.C.C. statement made clear that the decision does not affect drone pilots’ ability to fly the drones they already have or previously approved models.
“There will be a window for American companies to catch up,” Mr. Bartels said. “I sure hope that they do.”
Farah Stockman is a Times business reporter writing about manufacturing and the government policies that influence companies that make things in the United States.
The post Trump Administration Declares Foreign-Made Drones a Security Threat appeared first on New York Times.
