UK forced to halt Chagos Islands deal after Trump criticism

By Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — The UK has been forced to pause its plan to hand over the Chagos Islands, on which the US air base in Diego Garcia resides, after US President Donald Trump repeatedly criticized the deal.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government are not completely scrapping the plan to hand the islands to Mauritius. A spokesperson told CNN that “we continue to believe the agreement is the best way to protect the long-term future of the base.”

However, it is understood that there is not enough time left in the current parliamentary session to enshrine the deal into British law.

The UK government has long said the deal could not proceed without US support and it is understood there hasn’t yet been an exchange of notes with Washington, a normal procedure before which any treaty could be enacted.

According to British newspaper The Times, the bill also won’t be included in the King’s Speech next month, which sets out the UK government’s legislative agenda for the upcoming year. The Foreign Office would not comment on that report.

A UK government spokesperson told CNN that “Diego Garcia is a key strategic military asset for both the UK and the US.”

“Ensuring its long-term operational security is and will continue to be our priority – it is the entire reason for the deal,” they added. “We are continuing to engage with the US and Mauritius.”

CNN has contacted the White House for comment.

When the deal to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which claims sovereignty over the Indian Ocean territory, was first announced it was fully supported by the US.

Under the proposed deal, the UK and the US would still have access to the base on Diego Garcia – the largest of the Chagos islands – since the UK would pay Mauritius £101 million ($136 million) a year for a 99-year lease.

But Trump later backtracked on that support, attacking the deal as an “act of great stupidity” in January amid a general fraying of US-European diplomatic ties over his designs on Greenland. He then doubled down on that position in February, writing “DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!” in a post on Truth Social, adding that the base could be used in any operations against Iran.

Starmer ultimately blocked Trump’s request to allow US forces to use UK air bases, including on Diego Garcia, for offensive operations against Iran, according to multiple reports in British media in February.

British control over the islands is a relic of its colonial past. In 1965, an agreement between the US and UK split the Chagos Islands from Mauritius and, though Mauritius gained independence three years later, the Chagos Islands remained under British control. Over time, many Chagossians were removed from the island to create space for a military base, with most resettling in Mauritius more than 1,000 miles away.

The US base on Diego Garcia, which was first built in 1971, has become of Washington’s most important overseas assets, helping to launch two invasions of Iraq and serving as a vital landing spot for bombers flying missions across Asia.

But Mauritius has claimed sovereignty over the islands for decades and in 2019, the International Court of Justice ruled that the UK must return the islands to Mauritius “as rapidly as possible.”

Although the ruling was non-binding, the UK has faced growing international pressure to comply, and successive British governments have framed it as a test of the country’s commitment to international law.

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CNN’s Christian Edwards and Brad Lendon contributed reporting.