US President Donald Trump has softened his previous criticism of the UK’s plan to hand the Chagos Islands back to Mauritius, describing the deal as “the best” Prime Minister Keir Starmer could make. The change of tone came after a “very productive” phone call between the two leaders on Thursday.
Mr Trump had last month called the plan an “act of great stupidity” on his social media platform Truth Social. However, after the call, he wrote that the Diego Garcia military base is “strategically situated” and “of great importance to the National Security of the United States”. He added that he understands the deal Starmer made is “the best he could make”.
Under the agreement, Britain would cede sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius but lease the largest island, Diego Garcia, for 99 years to continue operating a joint US-UK military base. Mr Trump endorsed the handover when Starmer visited the White House last year.
Mr Trump also warned that if the lease deal “ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers U.S. operations and forces at our Base, I retain the right to Militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia”. He said he would “never allow our presence on a Base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense”.
A Downing Street spokesperson said the two leaders “agreed on the importance of the deal to secure the joint UK-US base on Diego Garcia, which remains vital to shared security interests”. They also agreed that the “UK and US will continue to work closely on the implementation of the deal”.
The Conservative Party and Reform UK have been highly critical of the Chagos Islands deal. Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said Mr Trump’s statement “recognises a critical weakness in the surrender deal – the lease could fall apart, leaving our national security and that of our allies in even greater doubt”. She called the deal “a massive strategic blunder”.
