The British government on Tuesday defended its decision to hand sovereignty the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after US President Donald Trump attacked the plan, which his administration had previously supported.
Trump said that relinquishing the remote Indian Ocean archipelago, home to a strategically important American naval and bomber base, was an act of stupidity that shows why he needs to take over Greenland.
Trump’s criticism
“Shockingly, our brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital US Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER,” he said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “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,” Trump said.
UK-Mauritius deal
The United Kingdom and Mauritius signed a deal in May to give Mauritius sovereignty over the islands, though the UK will lease back Diego Garcia where the US base is located, for at least 99 years.
Security assurances
The US government welcomed the agreement at the time, saying it “secures the long-term, stable, and effective operation of the joint US-UK military facility at Diego Garcia.” UK Cabinet Minister Darren Jones said Tuesday that the agreement would “secure that military base for the next 100 years.” But it has met strong opposition from British opposition parties, who that giving up the islands, which have been British territory for two centuries, puts them at risk of interference by China and Russia.
Political opposition
Islanders who were displaced from the islands to make way for the US base say they weren’t consulted and worry the deal will make it harder for them to go home.
Legislation to approve the agreement has been passed by the House of Commons, but faced strong opposition in Parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords, which approved it, while also passing a “motion of regret” lamenting the legislation. It’s due back in the Commons on Tuesday for further debate.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch criticized UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party government over the agreement.
Badenoch said in an X post that Trump is right and that Starmer’s “plan to give away the Chagos Islands is a terrible policy that weakens UK security and hands away our sovereign territory. And to top it off, makes us and our NATO allies weaker in the face of our enemies.” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, an ally of the president said: “Thank goodness Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos islands.” The US has described the Diego Garcia base, which is home to about 2,500 mostly American personnel, as “an all but indispensable platform” for security operations in the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.
Historical background
The Chagos Islands have been under British control since 1814, when they were ceded by France. Britain split the islands away from Mauritius, a former British colony, in 1965, and evicted as many as 2,000 people from the islands so the US military could build the Diego Garcia base.
An estimated 10,000 displaced Chagossians and their descendants now live primarily in Britain, Mauritius and the Seychelles. Some have fought unsuccessfully in UK courts for many years for the right to go home.
The UK-Mauritius deal calls for a resettlement fund to be created for displaced islanders to help them move back to the islands — apart from Diego Garcia.
Published on January 20, 2026
