Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said US intelligence agencies disagree with Donald Trump's newly expressed opposition to the Chagos Islands deal, as he defended the agreement during a flight to Beijing. Starmer stated that the Trump administration had supported the deal at agency level after a three-month pause for review.
Downing Street sources have described the agreement as a 'done deal' and indicated it will not be derailed by the US president's apparent U-turn. They noted that the UK has received no indication from the US State Department or intelligence agencies that their positions have changed.
Trump last week criticised the deal, calling it an 'act of great stupidity' and linking it to his desire to acquire Greenland. Starmer, however, emphasised that the US had conducted a detailed agency review and concluded it was a deal they supported, with announcements from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, and Trump himself.
The next stage of legislation on the Chagos handover has been delayed in the House of Lords, with No 10 saying this was due to ongoing discussions with the US. The Labour government agreed in October 2024 to cede sovereignty to Mauritius while retaining a 99-year lease for the Diego Garcia military base, at a projected cost of £3.4bn.
