President Donald Trump said the United States moved its bombers away from RAF Fairford because of threats against the base.
Speaking to reporters as he departed for Nebraska on Monday, Trump said the United States had been aware of a “threat,” prompting the military to relocate the bombers.
“Yes, I think we can say that. They didn’t just fly away for no reason. There were some threats. And instead of tempting the enemy, we would catch the enemy and defeat the enemy. But why should we leave them there? So we moved them a little bit. Not very far,” Trump told reporters outside the White House when asked whether a “specific threat” had prompted the United States to withdraw the bombers from the air base.
Earlier on Monday, a spokesperson for the Royal Air Force’s No. 10 Group had insisted that RAF Fairford was safe and referred to Trump’s comments from the previous week, in which he praised the United Kingdom’s “police, defense and security services” in connection with the base, A2 CNN reports.
The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday that it had withdrawn its bombers from the base and returned them to their stations in the United States.
Trump’s comments corroborate U.S. media reports that a new threat prompted the bombers’ departure following a major incident on September 27, when police were alerted to three “suspicious vehicles” near the air base.
