UK to review Chagos deal after Trump criticism
Officials are reviewing the agreement after President Donald Trump withdrew support, leaving the 99-year Diego Garcia lease and £3.4 billion plan in doubt.
- On Wednesday, the UK government launched a review of its agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, with Defence Secretary Wes Streeting confirming no payments will be made "at this stage" while officials reassess the deal.
- The review follows President Donald Trump's public criticism during his Tuesday meeting with Prime Minister Andy Burnham; Trump previously branded the deal a "terrible" "act of total weakness" and "a blight on our great ally."
- Under the 99-year agreement signed in 2025, Britain would cede sovereignty while paying an average of $136m annually to lease the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, a site officials describe as critical for collective security.
- Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called on Burnham to "just scrap this terrible deal," while Labour MP Dan Carden described the original agreement as "disastrous" in response to the review.
- Streeting emphasized that the government must work with the United States to reach a resolution, stating the focus is to secure "long-term certainty for the base on Diego Garcia," the archipelago's largest island.
73 Articles
73 Articles
Actually London wanted to return the island of Diego Garcia to Mauritius. But US President Trump stopped the "horrible" deal. For him it is about one of the most important US military bases. By Stephan Ueberbach.
Andy Burnham’s government considers the pact unworkable in its current terms in the face of Washington’s rejection and opens the door to a new negotiation
The British government, under Andy Burnham, distanced itself from Chagos's transfer agreement to Mauritius, under pressure from Donald Trump. Diego Garcia's base, key to the US, complicates the situation. New negotiations are planned, although the initial pact has not been ratified.
The British Government has rejected its decision to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Radio France Internationale
LaProvence.comUnder Trump's Pressure, the UK Is Ready to Review the Agreement on the Return of Chagos to Mauritius
Faced with Donald Trump's inflexible opposition, the United Kingdom is ready to renegotiate last year's agreement on the return to Mauritius of the Chagos Archipelago, where there is a strategic US-British military base.
In the colonial period, Britain used the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, wanted to return the archipelago to Mauritius in the long term. But Donald Trump called the deal "fearful" and that worked.
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