Chris Mason
Political editor

As figures in government digest this outburst, a sentiment I am picking up as they attempt to rationalise this is the context: a grumpy president, irritated at Europe’s reaction to his desires for Greenland, lashing out.We don’t expect to see the prime minister on camera today.Labour folk are also claiming that - after Kemi Badenoch’s support for the government on Greenland yesterday - at its first test, after these splenetic remarks from the president, she has sided with him.The Conservatives have long argued the Chagos deal is a dud.

Image source, UK Parliament

Mike Johnson, speaker of the US House of Representatives, is addressing the UK Parliament this morning, as part of a long-scheduled visit.

He tells the room the UK and US will continue to "face and overcome together the challenges of our present day".

Hours after Trump's criticism of the Chagos deal - and amid the US plans to seek control of Greenland - Johnson says President Trump is taking the threats posed by China and Russia "seriously", specifically in relation the Arctic.

He also says that a "strong America is good for the entire world" - and that the same is true of a strong UK.

Why has Trump changed his mind on Chagos?published at 10:07 GMT

10:07 GMT

Nomia Iqbal
News correspondent

If there was ever proof that there is no such thing as a done deal with President Trump, this surely is a staggering example.

Last February he, in effect, signed off on the Chagos Islands being handed over when Keir Starmer visited the White House.

The UK secured a 99-year lease to continue using the vital UK-US military base on Diego Garcia. Trump backed it saying: "I have a feeling it's going to work out very well... I think we'll be inclined to go along with your country."

Fast forward: new year, new mood and a hostile attack on the British PM who has worked very hard to tread carefully with Trump. The president is now basically endorsing the position of Starmer’s opponents in Reform UK and the Conservative Party.

So why has Trump done this?

Well, it punishes Starmer for supporting Denmark on Greenland and criticising tariffs. But also Trump’s previous position on handing over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands was inconsistent with "taking" Greenland on security grounds.

Now he has changed the goalposts, he is likely to argue if you support him on Chagos, you have to support him on Greenland.

Image source, PA Media

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey says Trump's Chagos comments show Keir Starmer's approach to the US president "has failed".

"The Chagos Deal was sold as proof the government could work with him, now it's falling apart," Davey writes on X.

"It's time for the government to stand up to Trump; appeasing a bully never works."

Image source, FIFA via Getty Images

The Mauritius government - which would take sovereignty of the Chagos Islands from the UK - is yet to comment on Donald Trump's dramatic intervention.

But when the deal was first signed in May 2025, Mauritanian Prime Minister Dr Navin Ramgoolam hailed it as a "great victory for the Mauritian nation", saying that 60 years after independence, "the United Kingdom must now return our full sovereignty".

Ramgoolam described the deal as the final step in Mauritius’ decolonisation, which began with independence in 1968.

New comments now from a UK government spokesman, reacting to Donald Trump's comments.

"The UK will never compromise on our national security," the spokesman says.

"We acted because the base on Diego Garcia was under threat after court decisions undermined our position and would have prevented it operating as intended in future.

"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.

"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."

Image source, UK GOVERNMENT

When it was signed in May 2025, the text of the deal, external handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius was published.

It included details of more UK funding for Mauritius, on top of what Keir Starmer said was the £101m annual cost to lease the Diego Garcia base that we looked at in our previous post.

Here are some extracts from the deal. As a reminder, it has been agreed by the UK and Mauritius, but is yet to be ratified by the UK's Parliament, so the Chagos Islands remain British territory - for now.

• Mauritius is sovereign over the Chagos Archipelago in its entirety, including Diego Garcia
• The United Kingdom shall have full responsibility for the defence and security of Diego Garcia
• Mauritius is free to implement a programme of resettlement on the islands of the Chagos Archipelago other than Diego Garcia
• The United Kingdom agrees: to pay Mauritius an annual sum; to capitalise a Trust Fund for the benefit of Chagossians as established by Mauritius; to grant multi-year funding as part of a development framework for projects to be undertaken by Mauritius across 25 years
• The arrangements for such payments, including amounts and modalities, shall be agreed separately
• This agreement shall have a duration of 99 years...this agreement may be extended for a further 40 years

Image source, PA Media

New reaction now from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who describes the government's Chagos deal as "complete self-sabotage".

In a message on X, alongside an image of the president's message, Badenoch says: "Paying to surrender the Chagos Islands is not just an act of stupidity, but of complete self sabotage.

"I’ve been clear and unfortunately on this issue President Trump is right.

"Keir Starmer’s plan to give away the Chagos Islands is a terrible policy that weakens UK security and hands away our sovereign territory.

"And to top it off, makes us and our NATO allies weaker in face of our enemies."

She has been a long-time critic of the agreement, and also says in her post that Starmer has "the chance to change course on Chagos".

Starmer's relationship with Trump seems to be unravellingpublished at 08:12 GMT

08:12 GMT

Chris Mason
Political editor

The government is defending its deal over the Chagos Islands, following President Trump’s splenetic outrage about it on social media.

Senior sources are making it clear there were very good reasons for the deal — and point out that it was publicly welcomed by the United States and Australia — two countries alongside the UK that are part of what is known as the 5 Eyes intelligence alliance.

The argument ministers have long made is that legal challenges over the validity of the UK’s claim to the Chagos Islands threatened the viability of the crucial military base on Diego Garcia - a site prized by both the UK and the US. The deal they did, they say, secures the long term future of the base.

It is almost a year since the president’s view on the deal was first sought in public. I remember it was — I was there, in the Oval Office of the White House.

The reporter pack suspected the president might be sceptical about it. But we were wrong. When we asked, he sounded supportive.

A few months later, last May, when the deal was formally done, it was welcomed by the United States - as we reported here.

But now we see this colossal change of heart — delivered in a characteristic blitz of capital letters. It poses massive questions for the prime minister, who has until now successfully nurtured a good relationship with the president, in public and private.

First Greenland and now this - it all appears to be unravelling.

Image source, Reuters

More now from Darren Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister, and the government's main spokesperson on this morning's media round.

He tells BBC Breakfast the Chagos Islands deal gave Britain "very important security guarantees about the functioning of the island and the seas near it".

"This is the right way to secure the future of the island and I wouldn't for a second suggest that Britain should be embarrassed or humiliated by any of those decisions."

"Geopolitics is increasingly volatile, I recognise that," he adds. "But we shouldn't be cowed by that."

"Breathe," says Emily Thornberry - Labour MP and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee - when asked by the BBC about Trump's comments on the Chagos deal.

Thornberry calls this an "example of presidential trolling," telling Radio 4's Today programme that the UK should not take Trump "literally" but must take him "seriously".

She then reads out quotes from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio from last year - where he "welcomes" the agreement as "critical to regional and global security".

You can read more of Rubio's comments from May here.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

The shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, has shared his response to Donald Trump's comments on the Chagos deal.

The Chagos Islands deal "shouldn't need Trump's intervention to make the Government think again & spend the money on our armed forces instead", he says on X.

He also outlines criticism of the deal, under which he says "the UK gives £35bn to lease back land we already own, because Labour are afraid of 'potential' legal challenges, which have been debunked".

Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones is now speaking to BBC Breakfast about Donald Trump's dramatic change of heart on the UK's Chagos Islands deal.

Asked if Keir Starmer is humiliated by Trump's comments - coming just a day after Starmer made a Downing Street speech praising the US-UK relationship - Jones says: "I don't think Britain should be embarrassed or humiliated at all, quite frankly."

We'll bring you more from him in just a moment.

This is massively embarrassing for Keir Starmerpublished at 07:33 GMT

07:33 GMT

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

There is no getting away from this being massively embarrassing, even humiliating, for Sir Keir Starmer given that fewer than 24 hours ago he gave a big speech in Downing Street defending his calm relationship with the US president and the influence it means the UK can wield.

Where is that calm this morning? What influence is the UK wielding?

And there will be bafflement as well as embarrassment in government this morning as well, since the Trump administration endorsed the deal with Mauritius pretty effusively in May 2025.

This is no longer just a diplomatic crisis over Greenland which Starmer is trying to help de-escalate, it is additionally a specific crisis of the "special" relationship.

The prime minister will face more questions than ever before about the approach he has taken to handling President Trump over the past year.

Expect questions about whether the King and the Prince of Wales should proceed with their visits to the US to mark the 250th anniversary of its independence this year (and remember, of course, that the King is also the King of Canada, which Trump has made a new threat to annex on social media in the past few hours too).

It is not clear that any world leader has quite found a reliable way to handle President Trump. But Starmer’s attempts to do so earned him plaudits across the political spectrum. Foreign affairs had been seen as one of the real positives of his time in Downing Street. That verdict may have to be revised.

What a mess.

Donald Trump's latest comments - calling the UK's plans to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius "an act of great stupidity" - mark a major change in position.

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.

The agreement followed Starmer's visit to the Oval Office in February, during which the US President indicated he would be prepared to back the Chagos deal.

"They're talking about a very long-term, powerful lease, a very strong lease, about 140 years actually," Trump said then. "That's a long time, and I think we'll be inclined to go along with your country."

Under the Chagos plan, the UK is expected to lease Diego Garcia for 99 years, with an option for a 40-year extension.

Image source, Reuters

We have just heard from Nigel Farage, who has long been a critic of the government's Chagos Islands deal.

In a post on X, the Reform UK leader says "thank goodness Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos islands".

We will bring you more political reaction as we get it.

The UK agreed a deal last year to hand over its sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while retaining control of a UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the territory.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says the 99-year agreement to lease back Diego Garcia will cost the UK £101m a year.

The islands were separated from Mauritius in 1965, when Mauritius was still a British colony. Britain purchased the islands for £3m but Mauritius has argued that it was illegally forced to give them away as part of a deal to gain independence.

Britain invited the US to build a military base on Diego Garcia, which removed thousands of people from their homes.

Some of those Chagossians ended up in Mauritius and the Seychelles, but others settled in the UK, mostly in Crawley, West Sussex.

Image source, Getty Images

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.

We'll have more on this breaking news imminently.