Trump says 'threat' led US to pull bombers from RAF Fairford

President Donald Trump said the United States withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford after learning of a threat to the installation. The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday that it had removed the aircraft – believed to be about a dozen B‑1Bs – from the UK base and returned them to their home stations in the United States. Speaking to reporters as he departed for Nebraska on Monday, Trump stated that the US was aware of a "threat" and that this knowledge prompted the decision to move the bombers. Earlier the same day, a spokesperson for No 10 insisted RAF Fairford remained safe and pointed to Trump’s remarks from the previous week in which he praised "our police, defence and information services" in relation to the base. Trump’s comments align with US media reports that a fresh menace led to the withdrawal, an action that follows an incident on 27 September when police were alerted to three "suspicious vehicles" near the airfield. He told a group of reporters outside the White House, "And alternatively than tempting the enemy, we'll seizure the force and bushed the enemy." He added that Washington "actually knows the radical that made the threat," though he did not identify the responsible party. RAF Fairford, located in the Cotswolds of Gloucestershire, has been at the centre of an incident under investigation by counter‑terrorism police. Five men were initially arrested on suspicion of terror‑related offences and later released on bail. A sixth man, a UK‑Iranian national, was also arrested and subsequently released on bail. After the release of the first five individuals, Trump criticised the move and US officials suggested Iran could have been involved. Whitehall sources have not disputed that the decision from Washington to withdraw the bombers was a response to the Gloucestershire incident. On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would not directly tie the previous week’s episode to the decision to pull the bombers from RAF Fairford. He remarked, "It's not antithetic to spot question of assets to antithetic parts of the satellite based connected exercises, redeployments, radical changing retired and caller radical coming in, caller planes coming successful and aged planes going out." Rubio added that the United States retains full confidence in the security of all its bases and that British authorities have been highly cooperative since the incident. Vice President JD Vance said the bombers were moved out of an "abundance of caution," noting that Washington believes Iran is continuing what it has "Done for 49 years... which is prosecute successful acts of coercion against the US and against a batch of different people".