Trump calls UK’s Chagos Islands deal act of ‘great stupidity’
US President Donald Trump has launched a blistering attack on the UK, describing Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as “utter stupidity”.
Writing on the Truth Social platform, the US president said the deal was “one in a very long list of National Security reasons why Greenland should be acquired.”
The criticism came just a day after the British prime minister called for calm between the United States and its NATO allies amid rising tensions over Trump’s Greenland ambitions.
“Surprisingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is now planning to give the Diego Garcia Island, site of a vital US Military Base, to Mauritius, and for NO REASON,” the US president wrote in an online post.
Last year Sir Keir reached a controversial agreement to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while retaining control of the UK-US military base in Diego Garcia.
The UK agreed to pay Mauritius at least £120 million a year over the 99-year agreement to lease back the ground; This puts the total cost in cash terms at at least £13bn.
In February last year, Trump appeared to indicate his support for the deal, telling Sir Keir during his visit to the White House in February that he was “inclined to go along with your country” and had a “feeling that this would work out very well”.
This is a breaking story, more to come…
