UK defends Chagos Islands deal after Trump labels it stupid
A 2025 deal to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius secures the future of a key US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean archipelago, the UK government said on Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump accused Britain of “gross stupidity”.
Trump, who approved the deal when it was signed in May last year, posted on social media on Tuesday that Britain’s “donation of extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY and is one of a long list of National Security reasons why Greenland should be purchased.”
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on Britain and other European countries for opposing Denmark’s claims to Greenland, an autonomous region of Denmark.
The Chagos deal would see Britain hand over the archipelago, about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Mauritius, to its former colony and pay to lease the US-UK military base for a century.
Britain insisted that the deal, which is in the final stages of being reviewed in parliament, would go ahead despite Trump’s U-turn.
“Our position remains unchanged,” a UK government spokesman said, praising the deal’s “robust provisions” and emphasizing that countries from Australia to Japan welcomed the deal.
“This agreement secures the operations of the joint US-UK base in Diego Garcia for generations,” the spokesman added, referring to the largest of the Chagos islands.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May that Washington “welcomes the historic agreement”.
“The Trump administration determined that this agreement ensures the long-term, stable and effective operation of the joint US-UK military facility in Diego Garcia,” Rubio said in a statement at the time.
British foreign secretary Stephen Doughty told parliament on Tuesday that Britain would have “discussions” with the US in the coming days “to remind us of the power of this agreement and how it has secured the base”.
– ‘Significant contributions’ –
The United Kingdom retained control of the Chagos Islands following Mauritius’ independence from Britain in the 1960s.
But it has since evacuated thousands of islanders, who have filed a series of compensation claims in the British courts.
In 2019, the International Court of Justice recommended that Britain hand over the archipelago to Mauritius after decades of legal battles.
According to the UK government, challenges in international and domestic courts had left the military base’s status “under threat”.
A UK government spokesman insisted the base was “one of the most significant contributions to the UK and US intelligence and security relationship”.
“Almost all operations of the base are carried out jointly with the United States,” the spokesman added.
The base played an important strategic role in the Cold War by offering proximity to Asia and later served as a staging area for US bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
It was recently used to launch B-2 bomber strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen during the Gaza war.
Opposition politicians in the United Kingdom have criticized the deal, under which Britain will pay Mauritius £101 million ($136 million) a year for 99 years.
According to the government, if inflation is taken into account, the net cost over the life of the lease will be around £3.4bn.
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, said: “Unfortunately, President Trump is right on this issue.”
Nigel Farage, leader of the far-right Reform UK party, said: “Thank goodness Trump vetoed the surrender of the Chagos Islands.”
But Ed Davey, leader of the centrist Liberal Democrat party, said in a post on X that Prime Minister Keir Starmer should start standing up to the US leader.
“This shows Starmer’s approach to Trump has failed,” he said. “The Chagos seal was sold as proof that the government could work with it. Now it’s falling apart. It’s time for the government to stand up to Trump; appeasing a tyrant never works.”
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