Donald Trump has performed a U-turn and withdrawn his support for Britain’s decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
The US President had previously appeared to be on side with the Labour government, which signed a deal last May to hand over the territory.
The archipelago in the Indian Ocean includes Diego Garcia, an island that houses a strategically important British and American military base.
Under the deal the base will be rented back at a cost of more than £99 billion over 99 years. The agreement faced considerable opposition in the UK, raising security concerns that the islands would come under the influence of China.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump, who is travelling to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, cited the deal as among the reasons he wants to take over Greenland, which is a territory of America’s Nato ally, Denmark.
He made the claim as he ramped up his rhetoric on acquiring the Arctic territory, firing off a flurry of posts on his Truth Social platform overnight. He also threatened to impose further tariffs on France after French President Emmanuel Macron declined an offer to join Mr Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza.
In one post, the US President described the Chagos deal as an “act of great stupidity”, in an about-turn from his support for the decision last year.
In May 2025, Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, said the United States welcomed the “historic agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Mauritius on the future of the British Indian Ocean Territory – specifically, the Chagos Archipelago”.
He commended “both the United Kingdom and Mauritius for their leadership, vision, and commitment to ensure that Diego Garcia remains fully operational for the duration of this agreement. We look forward to working closely with both governments to strengthen our collaboration in support of regional peace and stability”.
Mr Trump’s sudden public broadside against UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stands in contrast with the calm approach Mr Starmer and other European leaders have taken towards the US President over his ambitions to buy Greenland.
Writing on Truth Social, Mr Trump said: “Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ Nato ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital US military base, to Mauritius, and to do so for no reason whatsoever.
“There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness. These are international powers who only recognise strength, which is why the United States of America, under my leadership, is now, after only one year, respected like never before.
“The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of great stupidity, and is another in a very long line of national security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.”
In another post on Truth Social, Mr Trump shared what appeared to be an AI-generated image of him and Vice President JD Vance planting a US flag on a snowy landscape with a signpost that reads “Greenland, US territory, est 2026”.
A further post showed a doctored image of the US President meeting European leaders in the White House, with a map that highlighted the US, Canada and Greenland in the colours of the American flag.
Evictions
Britain took possession of the Chagos Islands in 1814 and kept them after Mauritian independence in 1968.
Three years earlier Britain had secretly leased Diego Garcia to the US for 50 years to use it as a military base. In 2016 the deal was extended to 2036.
The people of the islands were evicted and have been fighting Britain in legal cases to return, gaining support from the United Nations and International Court of Justice.
The evictions were described in a British diplomatic message at the time as the removal of a “few Tarzans and Man Fridays”.
The ICJ's judges said in 2019 that the agreement between Britain and Mauritius had not been “based on the free and genuine expression of the will of the people concerned”, and that the break-up of the colony was against international law.
British opposition parties welcomed Mr Trump’s intervention.
Conservative shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said: “President Trump has said what we’ve said all along – Labour’s £35 billion Chagos Surrender is a bad deal for Britain and bad for our national security. We’ve opposed it from day one and it’s time Starmer put the security of our country first and scrap his rotten deal.”
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge added: “Starmer’s Chagos deal – the UK gives £35 billion to lease back land we already own, because Labour are afraid of ‘potential’ legal challenges, which have been debunked. Shouldn’t need Trump’s intervention to make the government think again and spend the money on our armed forces instead.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “Thank goodness Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos islands.”
