(ANCHORAGE, Alaska) — President Donald Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin at a U.S. air base in Alaska on Friday with a flyover that included the same type of bomber and fighter jets used to strike Iran’s nuclear sites last June.
The two leaders walked along a red carpet rolled out at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson with F-22 fighter jets on either side as the four F-35s and a B-2 Spirit bomber soared overhead.
According to two officials, two B-2 bombers were flown into the base ahead of Friday’s summit; the F-35 jets arrived from nearby Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. The F-22 planes were based out of Elmendorf.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump personally ordered the bombers and the flyover to the Air Force base as a kind of show of force ahead of his discussions with Russia, which also is a nuclear power.
The B-2 is considered a symbol of U.S. power, as the bombers can fly around the world nonstop and can carry both conventional and nuclear munitions. The stealth B-2 bombers are the same kind used by the U.S. during June’s Operation Midnight Hammer, in which seven of the aircraft flew 36 hours straight from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to Iran where they dropped more than a dozen bunker-buster bombs.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly praised the power of the B-2 aircraft and the skill of its pilots.
Trump has insisted the sites were “obliterated.” U.S. military officials say a damage assessment is still under way. On Aug. 6, he announced his administration ordered “new and enhanced” B-2 aircraft.
“It’s an amazing machine,” he told reporters, holding up a small model of the bomber.
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