Trump U-turns on U.K.’s Chagos Islands deal, claims it’s another reason “Greenland has to be acquired” by U.S.

London – President Trump called the United Kingdom’s decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius — a deal his administration had previously supported — an act of “great stupidity” that further justified his desire than the United States acquire Greenland. One of the islands, Diego Garcia, is the site of a key Anglo-American military base in the Indian Ocean.

“It is shocking that our ‘great’ NATO ally, the United Kingdom, is currently considering ceding the island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital US military base, to Mauritius, for NO REASON WHATSOEVER,” Trump said Tuesday morning on his own Truth Social platform. “There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of utter weakness. They are international powers who only recognize STRENGTH, which is why the United States of America, under my leadership, is now, after only a year, respected like never before. The UK ceding extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY and is yet another in a very long line of national security reasons why Greenland must be acquired. Denmark and its European allies must do the right thing. Thank you for your attention to this question.

Mr. Trump issued his statement while U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, was in the United Kingdom to address the British Parliament, where he told lawmakers that the United States and the United Kingdom had “always been able to work through our differences calmly as friends. We will continue to do so. I want to assure you this morning that that is still the case.”

The Chagos Islands were separated from Mauritius, then a British colony, in 1965.

The United Kingdom purchased the islands for the equivalent of about $4 million, CBS News partner BBC News reported, but Mauritius has long maintained that it was forced to cede the islands in order to gain independence in 1968. The United Kingdom invited the United States to build a military base on the island of Diego Garcia, and it became the cornerstone of U.S. defense infrastructure in the vast Indian Ocean region.

In 2019, the International Court of Justice issued a non-binding ruling calling on the United Kingdom to relinquish control of the Chagos Islands, saying it had unfairly evicted people living on Diego Garcia to make way for the military base.

This decision partly motivated the agreement reached in 2024 under which the United Kingdom ceded sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Under the deal, Britain was able to retain control of the Diego Garcia military base through a 99-year lease, at a cost to the UK of approximately $136 million per year.

The Trump administration had previously supported the Chagos Islands agreement, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio issuing a statement in May last year saying: “Following an extensive interagency review, the Trump Administration has determined that this agreement ensures the long-term, stable and effective operation of the joint US-UK military facility at Diego Garcia.”

Rubio said at the time that Mr. Trump had “expressed support for this monumental achievement during his meeting with Prime Minister Starmer at the White House,” calling the base “a critical asset for regional and global security.”

In a statement sent to CBS News on Tuesday, a British government spokesperson said Britain “will never compromise on our national security,” noting that the deal with Mauritius was reached “because the Diego Garcia base was under threat after court rulings undermined our position and would have prevented it from operating as intended in the future.”

“This agreement secures the operations of the US-UK Joint Base on Diego Garcia for generations, with robust provisions to keep its unique capabilities intact and our adversaries at bay,” the UK government said, noting that it had previously been “publicly welcomed by the United States, Australia and all other Five allies, as well as key international partners including India, Japan and South Korea.”

The Five Eyes refers to the close defense and intelligence partnership between the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.