Donald Trump praised a joint U.S.-U.K. Operation after five men were arrested near a British air base used by American forces.
The suspects were taken into custody in the early hours near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, a Royal Air Force station that hosts U.S. Military operations. Police found viable incendiary devices and chemicals inside one of three white vans stopped close to the base perimeter, prompting a major security response.
A local resident’s late-night emergency call set the operation in motion. The resident dialed 999 around 12:45 a.m. After spotting men “acting suspiciously” around the vehicles, according to reports. That tip-off proved decisive in what Trump later framed as a foiled attack on American personnel.
The response escalated rapidly. Around 85 homes were evacuated to a local leisure centre, the Army’s specialist explosive ordnance disposal team was called in to search for additional devices, and the SAS was deployed to the scene. The scale of the reaction reflected the seriousness of what officers had discovered during their initial vehicle searches.
Trump, 78, addressed the arrests while speaking to reporters in Illinois. He emphasized cooperation between the two countries and claimed the suspects had been monitored beforehand.
“It was fantastic. Working with Britain, it was an amazing job,” he said. “They were looking to do big damage to our fort, and working with the British worked out great.”
He continued: “We had them under view for a long time, and we got them.”
The president’s “big damage” characterization and his use of “our fort” to describe the base underscored the U.S. Stake in the facility. RAF Fairford has long served as a key staging ground for American military operations, including bomber deployments and support missions.
The five men were arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, police said. The investigation remained active as specialist teams continued forensic work at the scene and authorities examined whether additional threats existed beyond the devices already recovered.
The incident highlighted the continued vulnerability of military installations to potential attacks, even in rural areas with limited overnight activity. The quick thinking of the resident who made the 999 call drew particular attention, with that individual credited for triggering the chain of events that led to the arrests.
RAF Fairford sits in the Cotswolds region of Gloucestershire, roughly 90 miles west of London. The base has hosted U.S. Air Force operations for decades and remains on high alert during periods of increased tension or military activity abroad.
The case also demonstrated the ongoing counterterrorism coordination between British and American authorities, with Trump explicitly linking the successful outcome to that partnership. His suggestion that the suspects had been under surveillance “for a long time” raised questions about the timeline of the investigation, though officials did not immediately clarify whether the operation began with intelligence tips or developed through the resident’s report.
Security remained heightened around the base as residents who had been displaced began returning home. Police continued to question the five suspects while forensic experts analyzed the recovered materials.
Trump is scheduled to continue his domestic travel with additional stops in the Midwest this week.