Joe Biden has walked the talk.
The US military shot down the Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean off the US east coast, a US official told media on Saturday.
The US president had said earlier on Saturday that the United States would "deal" with the Chinese balloon that entered US airspace.
According to American media, the Chinese balloon, which the Pentagon claims is a "spy" balloon, was observed on Saturday over North Carolina on the east coast of the United States.
Beijing acknowledged that it was indeed a device from China, but assured that it was a “civilian aircraft, used for research purposes, mainly meteorological”.
Three airports closed
The machine would have “deviated from its trajectory”, added a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressing the “regrets” of his country for this “involuntary” violation of American airspace.
The balloon notably flew over the state of Montana (west), which is home to nuclear missile silos, before moving east.
It has so far been decided not to shoot it down, due to the risks posed by possible debris to people on the ground, said a senior Pentagon official.
Before the balloon was shot down, the Federal Aviation Administration had issued a ground stop to close airports in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Charleston and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.
The FAA also restricted airspace near Myrtle Beach "to support the Department of Defense in a national security effort."