‘Threats’ led to US decision to remove bombers from RAF Fairford, says Trump

Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States pulled its strategic bomber warplanes out of RAF Fairford due to undisclosed “threats”.

“We actually know the people who made the threat,” the US president told reporters outside the White House, a day after the Pentagon confirmed it was removing aircraft from the base in the United Kingdom.

Asked whether there was a specific decision that led to the withdrawal, Trump said: “Yeah I think we can say that. They didn’t fly out by accident. There were some threats.”

“Rather than tempting the enemy, we'll capture the enemy and beat the enemy. But why should we leave him there? So we moved him around a little bit. Not very far,” he went on.

The airbase was recently the target of a suspected terror attack. Five British men in their 20s were arrested after being seen running into fields from three vans parked near the base on September 27.

Police said no explosive devices were found but a quantity of petrol was present.

The men have since been released on bail. A sixth man, a dual UK-Iranian national arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts four days later, has also been released on bail.

US President Donald Trump said at the time of the first arrests that the plot had planned "big damage" and that it might have been connected to Iran. Trump later said he would not have released the suspects on bail.

Asked on Monday whether the UK was a safe place for US assets, Trump said: “I think it is, and I have a very good relationship with your new prime minister, who's very good.

“He's liberal, very liberal, but I hear he's going to open up North Sea oil if he does that in Aberdeen. If he does that, you're going to have a rich country. If he doesn't, you're going to have a bankrupt country.”

Earlier on Monday, vice president JD Vance said that the decision to move B-1 bombers from a British airbase was done out of an abundance of caution after a suspected Iranian plot at the site last week.

“We do feel with some confidence that the Iranians are, you know, they're trying to do what the Iranian state has done for 49 years, which is engaged in acts of terrorism against the United States (and others), so we are being extremely cautious, and that's all I'd say about that.”

But earlier, secretary of state Marco Rubio had said there was no direct link between the sudden removal of the bombers and the suspected Iranian plot.

He said the Pentagon is “constantly reallocating resources where they need to be”.

Fairford, located 90 miles (145 km) west of London, is one of the most important in Europe for the US, being one of only a few suitable for heavy bombers such as the B-1 aircraft.

It has played a key role in previous US campaigns in the Middle East, although its bombers are not stationed there permanently.