Trump slams UK deal to hand over Chagos Islands after he previously backed it

LONDON: A startled British government on Tuesday defended its decision to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, after US President Donald Trump attacked the plan, which his administration had previously supported.

Trump said that relinquishing the remote Indian Ocean archipelago, home to a strategically important American naval and bomber base, was an act of stupidity that shows why he needs to take over Greenland.

“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,” he said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness.”

“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,” Trump said.

The blast from Trump was a rebuff to efforts by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to calm tensions over Greenland and patch up a frayed trans-Atlantic relationship.

Starmer on Monday called Trump’s statements about taking over Greenland “completely wrong,” but called for the rift to be “resolved through calm discussion.”

The United Kingdom and Mauritius signed a deal in May to give Mauritius sovereignty over the Chago Islands after two centuries under British control, though the UK will lease back Diego Garcia where the US base is located, for at least 99 years.

The US government welcomed the agreement at the time, saying it “secures the long-term, stable, and effective operation of the joint US-UK military facility at Diego Garcia.”

UK Cabinet Minister Darren Jones said Tuesday that the agreement would “secure that military base for the next 100 years.”