Trump signals US support for Chagos handover deal

Donald Trump has signalled that he now supports the UK's Chagos Islands handover deal to Mauritius, after launching a scathing attack on the agreement two weeks ago.

The US president had labelled the deal an "act of great stupidity," prompting fears he could withdraw his previous support for it.

But in a post on his Truth Social website on Thursday, he described Sir Keir Starmer's deal, announced last year, as the "best he could make".

Downing Street said Sir Keir had discussed the Chagos Islands with Trump earlier on Thursday, adding that the UK and US would "continue to work closely on the implementation of the deal".

The deal would see the UK transfer sovereignty of the islands whilst leasing back a joint UK-US military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia for an initial 99 years.

In his social media post, Trump did not give his explicit endorsement to the deal, but added he had held "very productive discussions" with Sir Keir.

He wrote: "I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, the best he could make.

"However, if the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers US operations and forces at our base, I retain the right to militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia."

The US president added that he "will never allow our presence on a base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense".

Warren Stephens, the US's ambassador to the UK, said while the "ideal" outcome would be for the UK not to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, it was the "best deal on the table for successive UK governments".

Echoing the president, Stephens said the US "retains the right to maintain and to reinforce our security interests on Diego Garcia if needed in the future".

Trump's previous criticism of the deal came during an international row over his threats to take control of Greenland.

At the time, Sir Keir accused Trump of making the comments to pressure the UK over Greenland.

A draft law to ratify the Chagos Islands deal is making its way through Parliament but has been delayed since the president's outburst.

Sir Keir has insisted the deal is necessary to protect the continued operation of the base, amid previous attempts from Mauritius to dispute the legality of British sovereignty over the islands.

A Downing Street readout of Thursday's phone call between Sir Keir and Trump said the pair had "agreed on the importance of the deal to secure the joint UK–US base on Diego Garcia, which remains vital to shared security interests".

The readout added: "The UK and US will continue to work closely on the implementation of the deal, they agreed."

The deal has been heavily criticised by the Conservatives and Reform UK, who have called for the agreement to be scrapped.

Conservative shadow foreign secretary, Dame Priti Patel, said Trump's statement "recognises a critical weakness in the surrender deal" about the lease arrangements.

"Keir Starmer and Peter Mandelson's shameful Chagos surrender remains an absolutely terrible deal for Britain," Dame Priti said.

"The Conservative Party's view is unchanged," she added. "We have led the fight against this appalling surrender and we will continue fighting it to the end."