Trump reportedly considers buying Chagos Islands from Mauritius | Donald Trump
Donald Trump is reportedly considering a plan to buy the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, at a time when UK plans to hand over sovereignty of the region have stalled; first in Telegraph reported.
The White House did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment on the report on the potential plan.
Under the reported proposal, the Trump administration would avoid British officials and secure control of the US-UK Diego Garcia military base by purchasing the island.
However, according to the Telegraph newspaper, first the island must be made sovereign and the USA must be allowed to negotiate directly with Mauritius regarding its purchase. Previous legislation to hand over the islands to Mauritius was shelved in April after the United States dropped its support for the deal.
According to the Telegraph newspaper, the purchase of the islands is one of many offers being evaluated by the United States. The latest plan was put forward by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and presented to Trump, but it is claimed that it is not a leading option. According to the Telegraph newspaper, some officials in the Trump administration were concerned about giving the island to China’s ally Mauritius and exposing the possibility of espionage.
Discussions about a potential US acquisition of the Chagos Islands come amid the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has been ongoing since late February. Located in the center of the Indian Ocean, the Diego Garcia base is about 2,360 miles (3,800 km) from Iran and includes an air base capable of handling U.S. long-range missiles.
Iran has launched multiple attacks on the joint base since the war there began. One such attack was shot down by a US warship in late March.
In March, Britain gave the United States permission to launch missiles from a joint base to hit Iranian missile launchers while the war continued.
Trump had previously condemned the move as “too late” and argued that UK officials should have approved the decision sooner.
In a social media post, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi warned Keir Starmer that he was “putting British lives at risk by allowing British bases to be used for attacks against Iran.”
