President Donald Trump has softened his earlier condemnation of the UK’s plan to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, following a phone call with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. The US leader previously described the deal as an “act of great stupidity” but now says it was the “best” the Prime Minister could achieve.
Under the agreement, Britain will cede control of the British Indian Ocean Territory but retain a 99-year lease over the Diego Garcia atoll, which hosts a joint US-UK military base. Trump, who endorsed the handover during Starmer’s White House visit last year, had last month posted on Truth Social calling it an act of weakness and linking it to US ambitions over Greenland.
After their call on Thursday, Trump wrote that Diego Garcia is “of great importance to the National Security of the United States” and acknowledged the deal as “the best he could make”. However, he warned that if the lease “ever falls apart” he retains the right to “militarily secure and reinforce the American presence”.
A Downing Street spokesperson confirmed the leaders agreed on the deal’s importance to shared security and that both nations would continue to work closely on implementation. The Conservative Party and Reform UK remain critical, with shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel calling the arrangement a “massive strategic blunder”.
