Trump Says Bombers Left RAF Fairford Over 'Threats': 'They Didn't Fly Out by Accident'

US President Donald Trump has said the United States moved its bombers out of RAF Fairford in England because of "some threats" to the base, the BBC reported on Monday.

The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday that it had sent its bombers, thought to be about a dozen B-1s, from the Gloucestershire base back to their home stations in America.

What Trump said

Asked by reporters on Monday whether a "specific threat" had led to the move, Trump replied: "Yeah I think we can say that. They didn't fly out by accident."

"There were some threats. And rather than tempting the enemy, we'll capture the enemy and beat the enemy. But why should we leave them there? So we moved them around a little bit. Not very far," he added, according to the BBC.

Trump added that Washington "actually knows the people that made the threat", but did not say who they were, the BBC reported.

Vance and Rubio strike different notes

"What you saw there was the Secretary of War, out of an abundance of caution, trying to protect our guys," Vance said, according to The Telegraph.

The BBC reported that Vance added Washington felt Iran was doing what it had "done for 49 years... which is engage in acts of terrorism against the US and against a lot of other people".

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was more guarded. "It's not unusual to see movement of assets to different parts of the world based on exercises, redeployments, people changing out and new people coming in, new planes coming in and old planes going out," Rubio said, according to the BBC.

The Fairford investigation

RAF Fairford has been at the centre of a counter-terror police investigation since 27 September, when police were alerted to three "suspicious vehicles" near the airbase. Five men were arrested on suspicion of terror offences and released on bail, and a sixth man, a UK-Iranian national, was later arrested and also bailed, the BBC said.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there were "strong indications" that Iran played a part, without giving details. Tehran has strongly denied any involvement.

Why it matters for the Iran war

The US has flown B-1 and B-52 bombers from Fairford for defensive strikes on Iran. Christoph Bergs, a research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, told Reuters the redeployment will reduce America's capacity to "quickly surge sorties against Iran, reducing the threat level somewhat".

The Telegraph reported that Trump is considering resuming major combat operations in Iran as negotiations remain stalled.