Trump contradicts Secretary of State Rubio on withdrawing US bombers from Great Britain

US President Donald Trump has now contradicted his Secretary of State Marco Rubio in this case. There were threats, he told journalists in Washington, without giving further details. When asked by a journalist, Trump said that the people behind the threat were probably connected to Iran.

»The (planes) didn't fly out by chance. There were a few threats. (…) Why should we leave the bombers there? So we moved them back and forth a little bit,” Trump continued.

Hours before Trump's statement, US Secretary of State Rubio had expressed himself in a much more cautious manner. The withdrawal is not directly related to suspected terrorist threats. "I wouldn't directly connect that with the decision to relocate," Rubio told reporters. In principle, the relocation is “nothing unusual” (more on that here).

“We documented what happened last week,” said Rubio. The threat is the reason why so much focus is now being placed on relocating the aircraft. "But it is not unusual for rotations to take place and for military resources to be moved to different parts of the world," he continued. "But I still have confidence in the British security precautions on the bases and in general."

In his statement to the White House, Trump also seemed to suggest that the bombers had not been moved "too far away." This in turn clashes with the statements from the Pentagon. On Sunday evening, the US Department of Defense announced upon request that all long-range bombers from the base had been ordered back to the USA.

"We can now confirm that all US bombers stationed at RAF Fairford have returned to their home bases in the United States," said a US Department of Defense official. Why Trump describes the flight across the Atlantic as “not too far away” raises further questions.

According to US media, new threats against the military base were the reason for the surprise withdrawal of the US bombers. There is information about an Iranian-backed attack on the base, the newspaper reported, citing two US officials.

On Tuesday night, the Wall Street Journal and the news portal Axios reported that information about a possible Iranian drone attack had led to the hasty withdrawal. The planned attack was part of a complex Iranian plot to attack the aircraft and kill personnel at the base, including US pilots.

Tanker planes were not yet ready to take off - the bombers were already taking off

According to the New York Times, the need to relocate the bombers away from RAF Fairford was deemed so urgent that some aircraft and their crews had already taken off, while the required tanker aircraft still had to be prepared for support over the Atlantic.

Accordingly, a US official said that the information was part of the warnings from three weeks ago. However, the situation has worsened in the last 24 hours due to specific details.

At the end of September, five men were arrested near the base. You are suspected of preparing a terrorist act (more on this here). She is also being investigated on suspicion of violating the Explosives Act. They have since been released under strict conditions. A sixth suspect with Iranian-British citizenship was also temporarily arrested in the following days and then released under conditions.