Giving away the British Indian Ocean Territory would be a “blight” on Britain that endangers national security and should not be permitted, President Trump said, reportedly prompting Downing Street to “pause for thought” on whether to proceed with the deal.
The highly contested plan to give away a highly strategic slice of British territory in the Indian Ocean — which contains one of the world’s most valuable military bases — is again under intense scrutiny as U.S. President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to stop bowing to “wokeism” and international law and just act in his national interest. Starmer, a slavish internationalist who even in what observers say are the dying days of his leadership has clung to his political capital-crushing deal to pay Mauritius to take away the British Indian Ocean Territory, has been attempting to force a bill making his treaty law through Parliament.
It was due to be brought back to the house next week, but following Trump’s broadside proclaiming “This land should not be taken away from the UK… do not give away Diego Garcia”, the British government is now to take a “pause for thought” on the matter, so claims Politico citing an unnamed Westminster official.
Under the terms of the treaty, Britain would have given the chain of islands of Mauritius and then leased back the land on which the Diego Garcia base, a joint British-American airbase, naval base, and intelligence listening outpost, for 100 years at the price of billions of dollars. Starmer’s government apparently believes it has to do this because an international court told it to, and it thinks giving the land away then leasing it back is a more reliable way of holding onto the deeply strategic military base than simply holding onto the land.
Writing on Truth Social overnight, President Trump said in a message weaving together the importance of the base on Diego Garcia and conflict with Iran while hinting at the state of negotiations over the future of Greenland, that he’d warned PM Starmer that “leases are no good” and that he shouldn’t bow down to the “wokeism” of international courts nobody had heard of, and their “fictitious” rulings.
Pointing to the importance of the base at risk over these political movements, President Trump outlined what is in play. He said: “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.”
Fairford is a major USAF base in England which is America’s only permanent “bomber Forward Operating Location” in Europe.
Starmer should not go ahead with the deal “for any reason” and to do so would be a “blight” on Britain, President Trump said. The United States will stand besides Britain, Trump continued, but the country should also stand up for itself.
President Trump’s interjection underlines not just how contentious the Diego Garcia deal is in Britain but the apparently ongoing tug-of-war over it in Washington D.C., with the White House making its position as public as possible against the State Department, which has been working to push it through. Just this week, the State Department said it backed the deal and was in talks with Mauritus, the ultimate beneficiary of London’s plan, to negotiate continued access to the important island base.
Despite the anonymous briefing about a pause for thought, on Friday morning a government spokesman insisted that Starmer was keen to keep pushing to give away Britain’s sovereign territory. Restating Downing Street’s position that the national interest is strengthened, not weakened, by giving away the islands, government minister Axles 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. We will be bringing the bill back as soon as parliamentary time allows, because this is about national security.”
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