President Donald Trump sharply criticized the United Kingdom’s decision to hand over the Chagos Islands, the location of a strategic U.S. military base, to Mauritius.
The Trump administration had previously supported a plan in which the UK would lease back Diego Garcia for 99 years after returning the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Diego Garcia, a coral atoll in the Indian Ocean that has served as a U.S. Navy base since the 1960s, is at the center of this arrangement.
Trump wrote on social media that the UK is planning to give away Diego Garcia, a vital U.S. military base, to Mauritius. He claimed there was no reason for the move and said, “China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness.”
He further stated the island was “extremely important land” and labeled the UK’s decision as “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY.”
As a consequence of the UK decision, Trump argued it was another reason the U.S. must annex Greenland, an Arctic island with a key location.
Trump said it “is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired. Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING.”
In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed off on the deal negotiated between the UK and Mauritius to transfer the Chagos Islands, following a comprehensive review by the Trump administration.
“Following a comprehensive interagency review, the Trump Administration determined that this agreement secures the long-term, stable, and effective operation of the joint U.S.-UK military facility at Diego Garcia,” Rubio said. “This is a critical asset for regional and global security.”
Rubio added, “President Trump expressed his support.”
A U.K. government spokesperson said in a statement that the base on Diego Garcia “was under threat after court decisions.”
“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,” the statement said. “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.”
