Donald Trump says there were “some threats” that led the United States to pull bombers from a UK base.
The US president said the military aircraft “didn’t fly out by accident” from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
Earlier, US secretary of state Marco Rubio had sought to play down the withdrawal of the planes after suggestions the move was linked to security concerns.
The top diplomat would not link the departure of the jets to a recent suspected terror plot targeting the base.
But asked as he left the White House on Monday if the planes had been moved in response to a threat, Mr Trump said: “Yeah, I think we can say that. They didn’t fly out by accident.
“No, but there were some threats and rather than tempting the enemy, we’ll capture the enemy and beat the enemy.
“But why should we keep them there? So we moved them around a little bit, not very far.”
