Name: Trump calls UK's Chagos deal with Mauritius 'stupid' and 'weak' | REUTERS
Uploaded: 2026-01-20T17:32:44.000Z
Duration: 1 min 58 s
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That's how Donald Trump has described a British deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, including the location of an important US UK air base.

And it's one reason, the US President wrote on social media, why he said the state has to acquire Greenland.

Last year, the UK agreed to a deal that would give the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius, with Britain retaining control of the Diego Garcia base under a 99 year lease.

Over 2,000 indigenous Chagossians were displaced in the 60s and 70s to establish the base.

It has most recently been used to strike Houthi targets in Yemen and for humanitarian aid deployments to Gaza.

Writing on Truth Social, Trump said Diego Garcia was being handed over for no reason whatsoever and that there is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness.

Responding to Trump's comments, the British government said the sovereignty deal had been made for national security reasons.

The base on Diego Garcia was under threat after court decisions undermined our position, a spokesperson said, and

would have prevented it operating as intended in future.

Indeed, Washington last year gave its blessing to the deal.

In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump had given his support to this monumental achievement.

We need Greenland for national security purposes.

But Trump's latest comments come against the backdrop of strained tensions with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over Greenland.

Starmer, who had built a solid relationship with Trump, has spoken out against the US President's ambition to acquire the Arctic island by any means to counter China and Russia.

On Monday, the British PM called for calm dialogue to avert a trade war and urged Trump to respect alliances.

That's after Trump vowed to use tariffs against those who stood in his way.