Trump calls Starmer’s Chagos Islands deal act of ‘great stupidity’

US president Donald Trump has launched a blistering attack on Britain, calling Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius one of “great stupidity”.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, the US president said the deal is “another in a very long line of national security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired”.

The criticism comes just one day after Sir Keir Starmer called for calm among the US and Nato allies as tensions mount over Trump’s threats to Greenland.

Lashing out in an online rant, the US president wrote: “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.”

The government hit back at the president’s comments, saying the deal had already been publicly welcomed by the US.

“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,” a government spokesperson said.

open image in gallery

"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.”

Last year, Sir Keir agreed a controversial deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while retaining control of the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.

The UK has agreed to pay Mauritius at least £120 million annually during the 99-year agreement to lease back the site, a total cost in cash terms of at least £13 billion.

Trump appeared to indicate his support for the deal last year, telling Sir Keir during his visit to the White House in February that he was “inclined to go with your country” and that he had “a feeling it’s going to work out very well”.

open image in gallery

But early on Tuesday morning, the US president launched a scathing attack on the move as he ramped up his rhetoric on acquiring the Arctic territory of Greenland.

“There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness,” he wrote.

“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.”

In another post on Truth Social, Mr Trump shared what appeared to be an AI generated image of he and his vice president JD Vance planting a US flag on a snowy landscape with a signpost that reads “Greenland, US territory, est 2026”.

open image in gallery

A further post showed a doctored image of the US president meeting European leaders in the White House, with a map that highlighted the US, Canada and Greenland in the colours of the American flag.

When asked whether Trump’s criticism could change the deal, government minister Darren Jones insisted Britain "can't reverse the clock".

The chief secretary to the prime minister told Times Radio it's "fine" that Donald Trump doesn't agree on the plan and said: "The treaty has been signed with the Mauritian government. So I can't reverse the clock on that. The treaty has been signed.”

He insisted that Britain shouldn’t “be embarrassed or humiliated at all” by the deal and told the BBC: “Quite frankly Diego Garcia – which is a small island that was part of the British Empire – was having its sovereignty challenged by the Russian government.

open image in gallery

“We've secured that island as a military base for the next 100 years, because it is an important military base for the UK and for our NATO allies, including the United States.”

The US president is travelling to Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday for the World Economic Forum on Tuesday. However, Sir Keir will not travel to the meeting because there are “lots of challenges on his time”, one of his senior ministers has said.

Some UK opposition parties welcomed Trump’s intervention, with Conservative shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel saying the US president “has said what we’ve said all along”.

She said: “We’ve opposed it from day one and it’s time Starmer put the security of our country first and scrap his rotten deal.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also added: “Thank goodness Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos islands.”