It caused a stir when Scotland Yard announced that all five suspects in the terrorist plot against the Fairford base had been released on bail. Trump said: “I wouldn’t have done that”, thereby signalling that the release was incomprehensible. The UK is increasingly coming across as a country where the authorities are losing control.
Donald Trump has criticised the counter-terrorism police for releasing five men who were arrested in connection with a suspected bomb plot targeting RAF Fairford.
The British nationals, aged between 23 and 25, were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of terrorism and breaches of explosives legislation, after three vans were discovered 400 metres from the air base in Gloucestershire.
However, the police stated on Monday that all five men had been released on bail following ‘extensive questioning and investigation’.
A few hours later, the US President addressed the nation from the Oval Office, stating that he would not have released the suspects.
He told reporters: “I would have said: Don’t let them out on bail… I’m surprised they released them. I wouldn’t have done that. But listen: they’ve been very good. They’ve cooperated very closely with us.
‘We know everything about them. We wouldn’t have released them. I wouldn’t have released them.’
When asked whether the suspected terrorists had links to Iran, Trump replied: “Perhaps.”
Trump’s statement is embarrassing for Andy Burnham, whom Trump met in New York last week. Trump has been criticised for taking Burnham’s assurances that they have the boat migrants under control a little too at face value.
Marco Rubio says that Fairford was a very serious incident and that a foreign power is behind it.
“What may have happened in the UK over the weekend is a very serious situation,” he told Fox News. “It is a situation where there is clearly a foreign actor involved.”
He added: “I would like to thank the UK authorities, who have been extremely cooperative and are in full control of the situation.
“I know that many people are upset by the news that some of these individuals have been released on bail, whilst investigations into some of them are ongoing, and we are, of course, cooperating with them on all of this.”
Keir Starmer grumbled that the Americans were using British bases to bomb Iran. The US has been furious that its allies have been passive and wants to take the credit. One can only speculate as to what the consequences would have been if a terrorist attack on Fairford had succeeded. But they could have been severe.
The UK now comes across as a player that does not take even terrorism seriously.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/28/donald-trump-raf-fairford-terror-suspects-bailed-police/
