President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized a U.K. plan involving the Indian Ocean territory where the U.S. operates its military base on the island of Diego Garcia, saying it was an error of national security and going on to again assert his claim that the United States “has to” buy Greenland.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump claimed that Britain is “planning to give away” the territory of Diego Garcia to Mauritius “for no reason whatsoever,” and that China and Russia will take this as a sign of weakness. He labeled the act of giving up territory as “great stupidity” and urged Denmark and its European friends to “do the right thing” regarding Greenland.
Diego Garcia is a strategic base used by U.S. forces in operations in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region. As Reuters reported, Trump’s comments come in the context of a larger dispute about the future of the Chagos Archipelago, on which Diego Garcia is situated, in a U.K.-Mauritius agreement that is being debated in British domestic legislation.
Under an agreement signed in May 2025, Mauritius will have sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, while the United Kingdom will maintain its rights on Diego Garcia for an initial period of 99 years, according to a briefing by the House of Commons Library. The briefing further indicated that the United Kingdom Parliament is considering an amendment to the bill to give effect to certain aspects of this treaty.
The Chagos Archipelago was split off from Mauritius during colonial times, and the UK then relocated the local population to establish a base there; therefore, this problem is not new. Additionally, international pressure has been mounting since the International Court of Justice said in 2019 that the UK should cease managing the Chagos Archipelago and that the decolonization of Mauritius was improperly executed.
However, Trump’s post did not outline any U.S. policy actions. The post did reflect a tougher public stance against a treaty which allegedly safeguards long-term access to the atolls of Diego Garcia in addressing a sovereignty dispute.
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