UK Reviews Chagos Islands Deal After Trump's Renewed Opposition
The UK is reviewing its Chagos Islands sovereignty deal with Mauritius after President Trump called it a 'terrible deal' during talks with PM Burnham.
The future of the Chagos Islands remains uncertain after US President Donald Trump renewed his opposition to a British agreement to transfer sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius.
UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said on Wednesday that officials are reviewing the pact, stating that Britain "can't go ahead without American support." His comments followed Trump's description of the deal as "a terrible deal" during his first meeting with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Streeting told the BBC that Trump's position on the agreement "as currently drafted is not changing," adding that the UK is committed to finding a solution acceptable to Britain, the US and Mauritius.
The Chagos archipelago, a chain of more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean, has been under British control since 1814. The UK separated it from Mauritius in 1965 and established the British Indian Ocean Territory. In the 1960s and 1970s, up to 2,000 people were evicted to make way for the Diego Garcia military base, which the US describes as "an all but indispensable platform" for operations across the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.
The base hosts about 2,500 mostly American personnel and has supported US military operations from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, the US acknowledged it had also been used for clandestine rendition flights.
Under the May 2025 agreement, the UK would pay Mauritius at least 120 million pounds ($159 million) annually to lease back Diego Garcia for at least 99 years. The deal was signed after the UK sought and received backing from the Trump administration, but Trump's January criticism effectively stalled it, and ratifying legislation ran out of time before Parliament's session ended in May.
The United Nations and the International Court of Justice have both urged the UK to end its "colonial administration" of the islands and transfer sovereignty to Mauritius. Negotiations began in 2022 under the previous Conservative government and continued after the Labour Party was elected in 2024.
Conservative Party defence spokesperson James Cartlidge urged Burnham to scrap the deal entirely, saying the money should go toward UK troops. "If Burnham was really serious about our defence, he would know that this deal should be binned entirely," he said.