Politics live: Trump warns Starmer is making ‘big mistake’ in fresh attack over Chagos Islands deal – UK Times

The Independent’s White House Correspondent Andrew Feinberg:

President Trump on Wednesday said he has now been urging Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer not to go through with handing control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius because the proposed 100-year lease on Diego Garcia (where a key British-American air base is located) would be a “big mistake.”

In a post on Truth Social, the former real estate mogul says he’s been telling Mr Starmer that “leases are no good when it comes to countries” and accused him of “losing control of this important Island by claims of entities never known of before” while calling Mauritius’ claims over the islands “fictitious in nature.”

Mr Trump also suggested that Diego Garcia would be used in any U.S. action against Iran “in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime — An attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly Countries.”

“Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia, by entering a tenuous, at best, 100 Year Lease. This land should not be taken away from the U.K. and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our Great Ally,” he said.

Mr Trump added that the U.S. would “always be ready, willing and able to fight for the U.K.” while urging London to “remain strong in the face of Wokeism, and other problems put before them.”

The president’s outburst is the latest in a whipsawing series of position changes over the Chagos agreement and the Diego Garcia lease.

Trump previously criticised the agreement in a social media rant last month in which he accused Mr Starmer of “great stupidity” for carrying out the plan to cede control of the Chagos and linked the agreement to his desire to annex Greenland for the United States over the objections of Denmark and the rest of Nato.

But he reversed course weeks later by describing the agreement as “the best” the Labour leader could strike.

Donald Trump has hit out at Keir Starmer, saying he is making a huge mistake with the Chagos Islands deal.

It is yet another flip-flop from the US president, who has previously supported the agreement.

Here is a timeline of his administration’s U-turns:

Trump says Chagos Islands talks “going to work out very well”

In February 2025, Trump indicated he would be prepared to back the deal, saying: “They’re talking about a very long-term, powerful lease, a very strong lease, about 140 years actually.

“That’s a long time, and I think we’ll be inclined to go along with your country.”

Speaking in the Oval Office alongside Starmer, he said: “We’re going to have some discussions about that very soon, and I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well.”

Trump “welcomes” the deal

Following the announcement of the deal in May, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, 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.

“Following a comprehensive interagency review, the Trump Administration determined that this agreement secures the long-term, stable, and effective operation of the joint U.S.-UK military facility at Diego Garcia.”

Trump brands Chagos Islands deal an “act of great stupidity”

In January, Trump launched an attack on Starmer, saying: “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.”

Trump says deal is best Starmer could get

In February, Trump again backtracked, and signalled his support for the deal, saying it was the “best he could make”

In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said: “I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, (is) the best he could make.”

US State Department “supports” Chagos agreement

On Tuesday The US State Department on Tuesday said it “supports the decision of the United Kingdom to proceed with its agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago”.

Donald Trump’s opposition of Keir Starmer’s Chagos Islands deal is “utter humiliation” for the prime minister, the shadow foreign secretary has stated.

Dame Priti Patel said: “President Trump has once again publicly rebuked Keir Starmer and his Government over their ill-judged, unnecessary and expensive Chagos Surrender. This is an utter humiliation for Starmer.

“It’s time Starmer finally saw sense, u-turned and scrapped this appalling deal altogether. Giving up British sovereign territory to an ally of China and paying for the privilege is irresponsible and reckless and is clearly undermining our relationship with our most important ally.

“While Starmer, Labour and their leftie lawyer friends threaten to undermine our security and defence, the Conservatives will keep fighting against the Chagos Surrender for as long as it takes.”

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

In return, the UK has been promised a 99-year lease on the base, in return for an average annual fee of £101m in current prices. The government estimates this will mean a total cost of £3.4bn.

These islands are currently governed by the UK as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), and have been in some form since 1814. In 1965, the UK and US officially detached the islands from Mauritius for joint defence purposes, creating a separate colony and forcibly removing native Chagossians soon after.

Mauritius will be free to arrange the resettlement of Chagossians on all islands in the archipelago under the terms, except for Diego Garcia.

Analysis by The Independent’s White House Correspondent Andrew Feinberg:

It’s unclear what has triggered Mr Trump’s latest switcharoo on the Chagos deal and plans to lease back Diego Garcia, but the agreement has been the subject of much transatlantic hand-wringing even before the president’s 2024 election victory over Kamala Harris.

In the months before American voters chose to return Trump to power after four years in political exile following his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, legal experts aligned with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage drew up advice that was fed to Mr Trump with the aim of having him scuttle the deal if given the chance.

Yet Mr Trump signaled his assent to the agreement last February during an Oval Office meeting with Mr Starmer in which he said he “had a feeling it is going to work out very well” and said he thought he’d be “inclined to go along” with the agreement despite a fierce lobbying campaign against it by Mr Farage and others.

In the year since, he has flip-flopped several times, most recently today when he again claimed to oppose the Chagos handover while urging the U.K. to “remain strong in the face of Wokeism, and other problems put before them.”

White House officials aren’t saying what has prompted the president’s latest change of heart, but his invocation of “wokeism” is a strong indicator that he now sees the planned handover to an African government as something akin to the reparations that many American progressives say are owed to the descendants of slaves.

Explanations from No. 10 that have been based on invoking international law to justify the deal are also likely falling flat with Mr Trump, who has spent much of his first year in office pushing for the U.S. to annex Greenland, the sovereign territory of a Nato ally, Denmark.

Donald Trump U-turned on the Chagos Islands deal in January after previously supporting the agreement.

He then came out in support of the deal again in February, before backtracking again on Wednesday.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith might have had involvement in Donald Trump’s U-turn on Chagos Islands deal after lobbying the Trump administration on the issue last week.

The former Tory leader is understood to have met key figures from the White House, national security council and departments of war and state, Sky News said.

In a post on social media, he said: “President Trump is absolutely right to tell Starmer to abandon the terrible chagos deal with Mauritius.

“POTUS understands how strategically important the airbase at Diego Garcia is. It is a bad deal that would cost UK taxpayers £34.7 billion.

“There was never any legal reason for us to enter into any agreement with Mauritius…none at all. The Chagossian people should be allowed to return to their islands as British citizens, with control over their domestic affairs.”

Nigel Farage has supported Donald Trump’s calls for Keir Starmer to scrap the Chagos Islands deal, which the US president said was a “big mistake”.

“Keir Starmer risks alienating our most important ally by giving away the Chagos Islands, the worst deal in British history,” the leader of Reform said.

“President Trump is right to say the Prime Minister is making a big mistake. Starmer must cancel this deal.”

Keir Starmer previously accused Donald Trump of backtracking on the Chagos Islands deal in an attempt to apply pressure on the prime minister over his position on Greenland.

Donald Trump, who has sought to annex the territory, changed his mind last month on the deal and said it was “an act of great stupidity”.

Speaking at PMQs last month, Starmer said: “President Trump deployed words on Chagos yesterday that were different to his previous words of welcome and support when I met him in the White House.

“He deployed those words yesterday for the express purpose of putting pressure on me and Britain in relation to my values and principles on the future of Greenland.

“He wants me to yield on my position, and I’m not going to do so.”

“I have been telling Prime Minister Keir Starmer, of the United Kingdom, that Leases are no good when it comes to Countries, and that he is making a big mistake by entering a 100 Year Lease with whoever it is that is ‘claiming’ Right, Title, and Interest to Diego Garcia, strategically located in the Indian Ocean.

“Our relationship with the United Kingdom is a strong and powerful one, and it has been for many years, but Prime Minister Starmer is losing control of this important Island by claims of entities never known of before.

“In our opinion, they are fictitious in nature. Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime — An attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly Countries. Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia, by entering a tenuous, at best, 100 Year Lease.

“This land should not be taken away from the U.K. and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our Great Ally.

“We will always be ready, willing, and able to fight for the U.K., but they have to remain strong in the face of Wokeism, and other problems put before them. DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!”