Did Trump reveal secret US-UK operation over RAF Fairford incident?

When Donald Trump weighed in on the "Fairford Five" on Sunday, he made news - but was his statement based on fact? 

"Working with Britain - it was an amazing job… we had them under investigation... they were looking to do big damage to our fort… and working with the British worked out great," he said.

"It may have been Scotland Yard. I don't know, we worked with a lot of them. We had them under view for a long time and we got 'em."

In those few sentences, the American president had said more than any British official had been willing, or at liberty, to say about the live and fast-moving investigation.

Had he just revealed details of a covert operation? Or was he just spitballing?

As we know, this particular president takes pride in weaving through sensitive issues; he speaks his mind often without deep knowledge, and he is known to say things that are plain wrong.

So naturally plenty have asked: "Is he just talking nonsense?", or did he just reveal the existence of a joint and secret US-UK operation?

A well-placed source here in Washington has now told me that we should take the president's statement seriously.

The guidance I am getting is that, on this occasion, his language is broadly accurate, notwithstanding the fact that he called RAF Fairford a "fort".

Other sources have also suggested to me that the Iran link is accurate too.

More on this story:
Farmer 'saw more than five men outside RAF base'
Ex-MI6 officer: 'Signs this is not a serious terrorist incident'

But beyond that, US authorities will say very little.

We do not know whether the president's line that "we had them under investigation" refers to the five men who were detained then released on bail, or whether it refers to a different group of people in a wider investigation.

All the US authorities will say - beyond their president's words - was captured in a very bland statement from a spokesman from US European Command.

The statement read: "For operational security reasons we will not discuss specific force protection measures.

"US European Command remains vigilant and will take appropriate actions to ensure the safety and security of our US service members, civilians, contractors, and their families across the European theatre."

The spokesman added: "We constantly assess a variety of factors that determine what measures we institute or modify to protect our installations, our people and their families."

We can conclude that intelligence services on both sides of the Atlantic have been involved in the investigation into this alleged plot and that it remains live and fast-moving.

(c) Sky News 2026: Did Trump reveal secret US-UK operation over RAF Fairford incident?