Trump criticizes Britain's handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius: "A huge mistake."
US President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack on the United Kingdom, describing its decision to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius as “a great folly.” These remarks reflect Trump’s hardline view of strategic assets and national security, as he directly linked the event to his renewed desire for the United States to acquire Greenland.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump criticized the agreement reached by the British government in 2024, saying, “The UK giving away such vital territory is a very foolish act.” The US president added that this decision constitutes “yet another reason, in a very long list of national security reasons, for the acquisition of Greenland,” clearly alluding to his strategy of expanding US geographic influence to bolster its national security.
The strategic importance of the Diego Garcia base
Trump's anger cannot be separated from the immense military importance of the Chagos Islands, and specifically Diego Garcia. This island hosts one of the most important US military bases overseas, playing a pivotal role in military operations in the Middle East, South Asia, and East Africa. The base is used to support long-range bombers and nuclear submarines, making it a cornerstone of US dominance in the Indian Ocean.
Although the British agreement with Mauritius guarantees that the military base will remain under US and British management for the next 99 years, critics, including Trump, argue that relinquishing sovereignty itself opens the door to future risks, especially in light of the escalating geopolitical competition with China in that region.
Background to the historical conflict and the controversial agreement
To understand the context of this attack, one must return to the roots of the issue. Britain separated the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965, three years before the latter's independence, and forcibly displaced the islanders to establish the military base. Mauritius has continued to demand the restoration of its sovereignty for decades, supported by rulings from the International Court of Justice and the United Nations General Assembly that declared the British occupation illegal.
In October 2024, the British government announced a historic agreement to transfer sovereignty to Mauritius, ending the legal dispute and securing the legal status of the military base. However, this decision faced sharp criticism from Conservatives in Britain and Republicans in the United States, who viewed it as a decline in Western influence.
Linking with the Greenland file
Trump's linking of the Chagos Islands to Greenland reflects his political doctrine, which views territory as a strategic asset that should not be relinquished but rather expanded. While he sees the transfer of the Chagos as a loss, he renews his call to purchase Greenland from Denmark, given its vital location in the Arctic and its natural resources. He believes that controlling waterways and strategic locations is the true guarantee of American national security in the 21st century.
