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Trump says UK handing over Chagos Islands sovereignty is act of 'great stupidity' (www.bbc.co.uk)

submitted 3 days ago by CricketGreen@feddit.uk to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Here is the latest Truth Social from President Trump on the UK's Chagos Islands deal:

"Shockingly, our “brilliant” NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.

"There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness. These are International Powers who only recognize STRENGTH, which is why the United States of America, under my leadership, is now, after only one year, respected like never before.

"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.

"Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING. Thank you for your attention to this matter. PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP"

Last year, Trump indicated he would be prepared to back the UK's deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

When Keir Starmer announced the UK had signed the deal on 22 May 2025, Starmer said: "President Trump has welcomed the deal along with other allies, because they see the strategic importance of this base and that we cannot cede the ground to others who would seek to do us harm."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also welcomed it, and issued a statement saying that Trump had "expressed his support for this monumental achievement".

Rubio said the deal "reflects the enduring strength of the US-UK relationship".

"We stand ready to continue our collaboration to promote peace, security, and prosperity in the Indian Ocean and beyond," he added.

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[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 5 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Why did we give them up? Cost-cutting measure?

(No I'm not agreeing with the orange fatball, I'm just wondering)

[–] CricketGreen@feddit.uk 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

An international court put forward an opinion stating that the £3million purchase of the Chagos Islands was illegal, as the UK made it a condition on granting Mauritius independence.

[–] stsquad@lemmy.ml 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I believe the stated reason was to avoid the possibility of the court ruling against the UK owning the islands leading to the base needing to be shut down. The agreement with Mauritius includes a 99 year lease to secure the base at Diego Garcia.

[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 6 points 3 days ago

ah so base-loss mitigation, thanks

[–] FishFace@piefed.social 6 points 2 days ago

I looked into this (just on Wikipedia). Before granting Mauritius independence, the UK split the territory into Mauritius and the British Indian Ocean Territory in order to have a place to put the base that's there now. But the UN takes a dim view on such shenanigans and tends to say that such territories should be reconstituted. (See also: controversy over the Partition of India, which was less brazenly self-interested, but very consequential)

So I believe the UN had actually already decided it was no bueno. I don't know why Mauritius was granted independence though; it was uninhabited when settled by the french, then ceded to Britain after the defeat of Napoleon. I assume expense had something to do with it though, since in the mid 20th centuries many colonies were money pits.