Donald Trump looks at falling balloons at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 21, 2016.J. Scott Applewhite/AP Republicans are criticizing the Biden administration's response to the Chinese spy balloon. "Would Trump have let China fly a spy balloon over our country?" Rep. Jim Jordan tweeted. Chinese spy balloons were sighted three times during the Trump administration, US officials said. A balloon US officials are calling a Chinese surveillance tool spent days flying over the continental United States before it was shot down by an F-22 fighter jet on Saturday.