Donald Trump signals US support for Chagos handover deal

Former US President Donald Trump has shifted his stance to show support for the UK’s agreement to transfer the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, despite having strongly criticized the deal just two weeks prior. Initially, Trump described the arrangement as an “act of great stupidity,” raising concerns about whether the US might retract its backing. However, in a recent post on his Truth Social platform, he acknowledged that the deal brokered by Sir Keir Starmer last year was “the best he could make.”

According to Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer and Trump spoke on the phone earlier on Thursday, during which the two leaders discussed the significance of the Chagos Islands. The UK government emphasized that the two countries would “continue to work closely on the implementation of the deal.” The agreement entails the UK handing over sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius, while maintaining a joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia under a lease lasting an initial 99 years.

In his social media statement, Trump stopped short of fully endorsing the agreement but noted that he had “very productive discussions” with Sir Keir. He also asserted that the US reserves the right to act militarily if the lease arrangement in the future breaks down or if US operations on Diego Garcia face threats. Trump emphasized his commitment to ensuring that the American military presence on the base remains secure, dismissing what he called “fake claims or environmental nonsense.”

Backing up Trump’s remarks, Warren Stephens, the US ambassador to the UK, confirmed that while the preferred outcome would be for Britain to retain sovereignty, the deal on the table represented the “best deal on the table for successive UK governments.” Stephens mirrored the president’s stance, stating that the US “retains the right to maintain and to reinforce our security interests on Diego Garcia if needed in the future.” The Chagos Islands handover has encountered criticism, especially from Conservatives and Reform UK, with Dame Priti Patel denouncing the agreement as “a terrible deal” and vowing to oppose it strenuously

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