From the moment it was spotted to the moment it was successfully shot down off the coast of South Carolina, dealing with the fate of China’s now-defunct balloon was fraught with potentially difficult military, diplomatic, and political consequences.
The president and his advisors, however, were keeping a close eye on the balloon’s progress and its likely contents, and they made the wise decision to destroy it as soon as they determined that doing so would not endanger anyone on the ground.
Needless to say, tensions between Washington and China have intensified.