Trump’s Chagos U-turn came after UK ‘blocked him from using RAF bases for strikes on Iran’

President Trump reportedly withdrew his support for the prime minister’s Chagos Islands deal because the UK is blocking the US from using RAF bases to launch an attack on Iran.

President Trump hit out at Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday in his second U-turn on support for the deal to hand over UK sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius, branding the move a “big mistake” because of concerns over the joint UK-US military base on the island of Diego Garcia.

According to The Times, the US president’s latest opposition was prompted by the White House not being permitted to use British bases for strikes against Iran, over concerns that it would be a breach of international law.

A government spokesperson said it would not comment on operational matters, but added: “There is a political process ongoing between the US and Iran, which the UK supports. Iran must never be able to develop a nuclear weapon, and our priority is security in the region.”

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After a call with Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday, President Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday that the current agreement was a “big mistake” and made a specific reference to Iran.

He said that the joint military base could be vital for a US strike on Iran and warned Tehran could attack the UK.

Under Sir Keir’s plans for handing over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, the UK would lease back the base on Diego Garcia. However, Mr Trump described this arrangement as “tenuous” and “no good”.

The government has said it remains committed to advancing the Chagos Islands deal despite Mr Trump’s latest U-turn.

Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones confirmed a Bill to agree the deal will return to Parliament as soon as the timetable permits, though recent reports suggest a potential delay.

The proposed legislation, originally slated for debate in the House of Lords, was withdrawn last month following a Conservative-led amendment that called for a pause “in light of the changing geopolitical circumstances”.

Despite Ms Davies-Jones’s assurances, Politico reported the government will delay bringing legislation underpinning the deal back to the House of Lords, citing an unnamed senior official briefed on the plans.

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However, the Foreign Office is understood not to recognise the reporting.

Speaking onTimes Radio, Ms Davies-Jones said: “This deal is essential and crucial for the national security of the United Kingdom and that is the first priority of any government.”

She added: “We will be bringing the Bill back as soon as parliamentary time allows, because this is about national security.”

Ms Davies-Jones recalled the US leader’s changing stance on the issue, having repeatedly publicly supported the deal only to denounce it again later.

Ms Davies-Jones said: “I think it’s really important to note that during his first meeting with President Trump, the prime minister reiterated this deal and President Trump backed it, and said that this lease was a strong lease.

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“Just two weeks ago, the president again backed this and said it was the best deal available, and just this week the US administration reaffirmed their commitment to the deal.”

President Trump’s latest post on Truth Social comes after former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a vocal critic of the Chagos deal, returned from a trip to Washington, where he discussed the plans with members of the Trump administration.

Both Conservative shadow foreign secretary, Dame Priti Patel, and Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, who are opposed to the deal, backed Mr Trump and told Sir Keir to scrap it.

Tory shadow Home Office minister Alicia Kearns said the agreement was unnecessary, and said people had been “misled” over the reasoning behind it.

The government says the future of the base has been threatened by recent international court decisions.

The deal is expected to see the UK pay Mauritius around £35bn over the next century – an average cost of £350m a year – to lease back the Diego Garcia base.

“We were told that there were weeks, only weeks for which the base (UK-US military base on Diego Garcia) could continue to operate safely. And now, many, many months on, we’re now finding out that actually the entire basis on which the Labour government said they only had weeks to negotiate and get this done was not true,” Ms Kearns told Times Radio.

It comes as the exiled first minister of the Chagos Islands government urged Sir Keir Starmer to pull the deal to hand sovereignty over the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius.

Misley Mandarin is one of four Chagossians who returned to the islands on a small boat this week to reclaim their homeland. He told BBC Radio 4 that Sir Keir should not give the islands away to Mauritius.

He said: “I’ll say Keir Starmer, as my prime minister, you have to look at this treaty again. British Chagossian on this island, yesterday you sent patrol to give us removal notice, the island belong to us.

“Harold Wilson did that… removing the Chagossian from their homeland and that is a stain on British politics but now it’s 2026, Keir Starmer, you could be a hero right now.

“Don’t ratify that deal, cancel that deal and let Chagossians come back to their homeland as British.”