Trump blasts UK’s Chagos Islands transfer as ‘gross stupidity’ and ‘self-sabotage’

US President Donald Trump has characterized the agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago—which includes the island hosting a joint US-UK air base—as an act of “total weakness” and “gross stupidity.”

Washington had previously approved the deal, which transfers sovereignty of the Indian Ocean islands to Mauritius while maintaining London’s control over the Diego Garcia base via a 99-year lease.

However, Trump reversed this stance through a post on Truth Social, writing:

“Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO ally, the United Kingdom, is currently making plans to give the Diego Garcia Island, where a vitally important US military base is located, to Mauritius for no reason whatsoever.”

Arguing there is “no doubt” China and Russia have noticed this “action showing total weakness,” Trump described the UK’s handover of “an extremely important piece of territory” as “gross stupidity” and “yet another reason added to a very long list of national security reasons why Greenland needs to be bought.”

Responding to Trump’s comments on Chagos, the British government stated the agreement was made precisely for national security reasons. A spokesperson said, “We took action because the base at Diego Garcia was under threat due to court rulings weakening our position and preventing it from operating as intended in the future.”

Comprising more than 600 islands, the six main atolls of Chagos are located 500 km south of the Maldives, midway between Africa and Indonesia, and are home to approximately 4,000 people.

The UK forcibly displaced up to 2,000 native Chagossians in the late 1960s and 1970s to establish a base on the Diego Garcia atoll; however, it has granted sovereignty rights to its former colony, Mauritius, and pays £101 million ($136 million) annually to ensure the base’s security.

Recent operations launched from Diego Garcia include strikes on Yemen in 2024 and 2025, the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and strikes against Taliban and Al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan in 2001.

Senior British minister Darren Jones stated that the Chagos deal was already concluded and he did not know how it could be changed.

The UK had postponed the signing of the agreement until Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 to allow his administration time to review the plan.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last May regarding the agreement, “President Trump expressed his support for this historic achievement.”

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK’s opposition Conservative Party, stated she agreed with Trump on the Chagos islands issue, arguing that the “terrible” agreement undermined Britain’s security.

“Paying to hand over the Chagos Islands is not just stupidity, it is an act of total self-sabotage,” Badenoch wrote, adding, “sadly, President Trump is right on this matter.”

Some Chagossians, most of whom began living in the UK after being driven from the archipelago, have also opposed the agreement on the grounds that they were not consulted.