The UK government said on Tuesday its deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius “secures” the future of a key US-UK military base on the Indian Ocean archipelago, after US President Donald Trump accused Britain of “great stupidity.”
The US president’s comments mark a major change of position for Trump, who previously endorsed the deal when it was signed in May 2025.
“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 posted on his Truth Social platform earlier on Tuesday.
The harsh comments follow Trump’s threat to slap tariffs on Britain and other European countries for defending Greenland’s sovereignty from Washington.
The Chagos agreement will see Britain hand the archipelago to its former colony and pay to lease a key US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island, for a century.
“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,” Downing Street said in response to Trump’s criticism.
“It has been publicly welcomed by the US, Australia and all other Five Eyes allies, as well as key international partners including India, Japan and South Korea,” a government spokesperson added.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said in May that Washington “welcomes the historic agreement”.
“The Trump Administration determined that this agreement secures the long-term, stable, and effective operation of the joint US-UK military facility at Diego Garcia,” Rubio said in a statement at the time.
“The treaty has been signed with the Mauritian government. So I can’t reverse the clock on that,” UK cabinet minister Darren Jones told Times Radio.
