The American president has delivered a withering verdict on Sir Keir Starmer's scheme to surrender the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, and we believe his words should give every patriot fresh hope that this reckless giveaway can still be stopped. Donald Trump branded the agreement an “act of stupidity”, making clear that opposition to the deal is now hardening inside his own administration.
Addressing reporters on Tuesday morning, Mr Trump said the planned transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory — home to the strategically vital joint US–UK military base on Diego Garcia — had been signed away “for no reason whatsoever”.
The president tied the Chagos question to his wider campaign for the United States to assume control of Greenland, a demand that has already put Washington at odds with several Nato partners, Britain among them.
His comments came on the back of a string of AI-generated images he had posted to Truth Social, imagining a US takeover of Greenland and Canada. One showed Mr Trump beside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance driving an American flag into Greenland; another depicted an Oval Office map marking Canada, Greenland and Venezuela as US territory.
Pressed later at a White House press conference, the president signalled that he could not back the Chagos arrangement as it currently stands.
“I think that they, you know, when they originally were going to do it, they were talking about doing some concept of ownership, but now they’re looking to essentially just do a lease and sell it. And I’m against that,” he said.
Sir Keir put his name to the agreement with Mauritius last May, insisting it was the only route to shield the Diego Garcia base from legal challenge and from hostile powers such as China. Mr Trump had at first appeared open to it, suggesting last year that it might “work out very well” while cautioning that he wanted to study the full terms. Mr Rubio has since voiced his own reservations.
Opponents have long warned that Mauritius's tight bond with Beijing carries a genuine security risk, fearing China could secure influence or intelligence access close to the base. The deal would see Britain surrender sovereignty over the archipelago while leasing Diego Garcia back for up to 99 years — at a cost expected to climb past £30 billion.
Labour rebels break ranks in the Commons
The Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill came back before the House of Commons on Tuesday, with MPs debating amendments sent over by the House of Lords. Those amendments would have forced the Government to publish the full real-terms cost of the agreement, made payments to Mauritius subject to annual parliamentary approval, and required payments to stop altogether if the base were ever rendered inoperable.
Three Labour MPs defied the Government in the divisions. Graham Stringer and Peter Lamb, both earlier critics of the deal, sided with its opponents, while Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, voted against ministers on one of the amendments.
Speaking in the Chamber, Mr Stringer argued that Mr Trump's change of heart made “the case for a pause” before pressing ahead.
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty pushed back, telling MPs that “the circumstances have not changed” in spite of the president's intervention.
“We will of course have discussions with the administration in the coming days to remind them of the strength of this deal, how it secures the base for the UK and the US,” Mr Doughty said.
The Bill now heads back to the House of Lords on Monday, where Conservative peers are poised to push for further changes. Conservative sources indicated that peers would look to stall the legislation through parliamentary “ping pong” in light of the president's remarks.
Downing Street digs in as opposition pounces
Number 10 stood by the agreement, claiming it had been welcomed by the White House and other allies. A Government spokesman said Britain had acted because earlier court rulings had weakened its position and put the base's future operation at risk.
“The UK will never compromise on our national security,” the spokesman said. “This deal secures the operations of the joint US–UK base on Diego Garcia for generations, with robust provisions for keeping its unique capabilities intact and our adversaries out.”
Opposition figures wasted little time seizing on the president's verdict. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said paying to give away the islands amounted to “an act of complete self-sabotage” that left both Britain and Nato weaker.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a close ally of Mr Trump, has likewise attacked the agreement. Reacting to the president's words, he declared that the Chagos deal had “sunk below the waterline”.
Mr Trump said he had not been in contact with Sir Keir or with Emmanuel Macron since speaking out, though he added: “I think I get along very well with them. They’ve got to straighten out their countries.”
Tariff threat raises the stakes for Starmer
The president's broadside landed a day after Sir Keir cautioned that Britain could face “huge damage” from proposed US tariffs tied to the Greenland row. Mr Trump has threatened a ten per cent tariff on exports from the UK and fellow Nato allies, rising to 25 per cent, unless America is allowed to acquire Greenland — a proposal flatly rejected by Denmark and by Greenland's own government.
Even while defending the UK–US relationship as essential to Britain's economy and security, the Prime Minister issued a rare public rebuke to Mr Trump, insisting that Greenland's future was a matter for Greenland and Denmark alone.
Sir Keir now finds himself under renewed pressure to think again on Chagos as the legislation grinds on through Parliament against a tide of mounting opposition at home and abroad. We will keep making the case that these islands are British, and that they should stay that way.