Trump flips position to attack UK's Starmer over Chagos Islands deal

Diego Garcia, largest island in the Chagos archipelago, is a remote Indian Ocean island almost 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from the coast of East Africa and is home to a US and UK military facility

By Josh Wingrove and Alex Wickham

 

President Donald Trump criticized UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plans to return sovereignty of Diego Garcia — an island that houses a crucial military base — to Mauritius, reversing his previous support for the proposal in a further deterioration of transatlantic relations. 

Trump cited the decision to justify his ambitions for the US to acquire Greenland, in a post on Truth Social early Tuesday morning.

 

“Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ Nato Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER,” Trump said. “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,” he added. “Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING.”

 

The remarks represent a change of position from the US president. He gave Starmer his support for the agreement at a meeting in the Oval Office last February, saying: “I think we’ll be inclined to go along with your country.” A statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May hailed the deal as a “monumental achievement.”

 

Trump’s reversal comes hours after Starmer rebuked the president’s threats of new tariffs on the UK and other European countries over their support for the territorial integrity of Greenland as “completely wrong.” At a press event on Monday, Starmer also declined to endorse Trump’s new Board of Peace.

 

Diego Garcia is a remote Indian Ocean island almost 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from the coast of East Africa and is home to a US and UK military facility, allowing those nations to more easily carry out missions from the Middle East to Asia. 

 

Starmer reached a deal to hand the islands back to Mauritius and lease back the military base in what was seen as an early win for the British government, especially as it won backing from the Trump administration. Nonetheless, it has faced opposition from Britain’s right-wing parties, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK’s Nigel Farage campaigning against the plan.

 

Some Republican lawmakers have expressed alarm that the plans for Diego Garcia could allow China to spy on US activities there, amid growing fears that the Chinese are expanding their economic and military presence in the Indian ocean.

 

Trump’s post came shortly after he announced that he would meet with parties on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos to discuss his efforts to take over the Danish territory of Greenland, which he has said is critical to US security and is at risk of encroachment from China and Russia. 

 

Trump threatened to impose tariffs on allies that are opposing his bid for Greenland, stunning Nato partners ahead of the crucial gathering of the world’s financial and political elite.