Weeks after slamming the agreement, US President Donald Trump suggested that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Chagos Islands deal was the ‘best he could make’.
US President
Donald Trump suggested that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s
Chagos Islands deal was the “best he could make,” expressing his support for the British premier. What made Trump’s latest remarks interesting was the fact that they came after he himself attacked the agreement last month.
Weeks ago, the American leader branded the deal as “an act of great stupidity”, insisting that he had “very productive discussions” with the Prime Minister about
Diego Garcia, where a UK-US military base is located. Under the Chagos Islands deal, which will cost a whopping £35 billion over the next century, the United Kingdom would cede sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to
Mauritius but lease back the facility on the island.
In his latest post on TruthSocial, Trump said that he understands Starmer’s perspective. “I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, (is) the best he could make,” the American leader said in the post. “However, if the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers US operations and forces at our base, I retain the right to militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia,” he furthered.
Trump made it clear that he won’t take any action after feeling threatened by fake claims. “Let it be known that I will never allow our presence on a base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense.”
UK’s take
Meanwhile, Downing Street said in its statement that the two leaders “agreed on the importance of the deal to secure the joint UK-US base of Diego Garcia” in a conversation on Thursday. “On Ukraine, the leaders discussed the ongoing peace negotiations. The Prime Minister expressed his deep concern about Putin’s continued barbaric attacks on innocent civilians, particularly in freezing temperatures,” a No 10 spokeswoman said.
“They also agreed on the importance of the deal to secure the joint UK–US base on Diego Garcia, which remains vital to shared security interests. The UK and US will continue to work closely on the implementation of the deal, they agreed,” she added.
Last month, Trump slammed the agreement, describing it as “an act of total weakness”. He claimed that the site of the military base was being given away “for no reason whatsoever”. Trump’s criticism came as transatlantic tensions flared over his ambitions to take control of
Greenland, Starmer accusing him of making the comments to pressure Britain to lift its objections.
It is pertinent to note that the legislation to ratify the deal is in its closing stages in the parliament, but progress has been delayed since the president’s outburst. On Tuesday, No.10 said that the two leaders had agreed their governments would work to “guarantee the future operation of the base” in the first known discussion between them since Trump’s criticism.
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