2026-02-18 21:45
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2026-02-18 21:45
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday appealed to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer not to give Mauritius the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, where a British-American air base is located. As he noted, this base may be needed for attacks on Iran.
In an entry on Truth Social, Trump criticized the agreement concluded by Great Britain to cede the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius, including the largest of them – Diego Garcia, where there is a military base. Although the agreement provides for a 99-year lease of the base, Trump noted in Wednesday's post that this is not a good solution.
“I have told UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer that leases are not good when it comes to countries and that he is making a grave mistake by entering into a 100-year lease with anyone who 'claims' title and interest in Diego Garcia, a strategically located (island) in the Indian Ocean,” Trump wrote, calling fictitious claims. He noted that the US may soon be forced to use the base to “eliminate a potential attack from a highly unstable and dangerous regime (in Iran – PAP) – an attack that could be launched against the United Kingdom, as well as against other friendly countries.”
“Prime Minister Starmer should not, for any reason, lose control of Diego Garcia by entering into a fragile, at best 100-year lease. This land should not be taken from the UK, and if it does, it will be a plague to our Great Ally,” Trump wrote. “DON'T GIVE DIEGO GARCIA AWAY!” – he called.
Trump's statement is at least the third change in his administration's position on the Mauritius agreement. Last year, Trump supported this agreement during a meeting with Starmer, and then – in the context of making claims against Greenland – he condemned it, pointing to it as an example justifying the need to take ownership of Greenland. At the beginning of February, however, he once again assessed that Starmer had done as much as he could in terms of the contract. Trump then reserved the right to militarily secure the base on Diego Garcia.
Just on Tuesday, however, the Department of State announced in a statement from talks with Mauritius representatives that the US “supports the United Kingdom's decision to continue its agreement with Mauritius on the Chagos archipelago.” When asked about this on Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that foreign policy is determined by President Trump and his entries should be treated as the official policy of the United States.
In May 2025, the Starmer government finalized the agreement negotiated by the previous government in London on the transfer of Chagos to Mauritius, because – as the British Prime Minister pointed out – Great Britain would have no real chance of winning the case before the international tribunal.
The International Court of Justice decided in 2019 in a non-binding ruling that the UK must return the islands to Mauritius.
From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)
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