US President Donald Trump on Wednesday told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that it would be a “big mistake” for the UK to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
In a reversal that came after Mr Trump had earlier endorsed the deal, he said the military base at Diego Garcia on the islands in the Indian Ocean could play a critical role in any US attack on Iran.
“Should Iran decide not to make a deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and [RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire], in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime – an attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly countries,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.
London in 2024 agreed to give sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in return for retaining control of the military base on Diego Garcia under a 99-year lease. Parliament is still considering the deal, which faces growing opposition, including from native Chagos Islanders who do not want the territory transferred to Mauritius.
“Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia, by entering a tenuous, at best, 100-year lease,” Mr Trump said. “This land should not be taken away from the UK and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our great ally.”
The Truth Social post came just one day after the US State Department said it “supports the decision of the United Kingdom to proceed with its agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago”.
Plans would see the UK lease the base on Diego Garcia from Mauritius at a total cost of £35 billion ($47.26 billion) for the next century.
“We will always be ready, willing and able to fight for the UK, but they have to remain strong in the face of wokeism, and other problems put before them. Do not give away Diego Garcia,” Mr Trump said.
The Chagos Islands have been the subject of a decades-long sovereignty dispute after they were not granted independence along with the rest of Mauritius in 1965.
The Chagossian population was later expelled from the archipelago to make way for the base, and has staged a long-running campaign for the right to return.
In February, Mr Trump said Mr Starmer's Chagos deal was “the best he could make”.
That statement came a week after Mr Trump had described the deal as “an act of great stupidity” amid the row over his attempts to annex Greenland, despite his administration previously backing the agreement.
