Donald Trump has signalled that he now supports the UK’s Chagos Islands handover deal, after launching a scathing attack on the agreement two weeks ago.
The US president had labelled the deal an “act of great stupidity,” prompting fears he could withdraw his previous support for it.
But in a post on his Truth Social website on Thursday, he described Sir Keir Starmer’s deal, announced last year, as the “best he could make”.
Downing Street said Sir Keir had discussed the Chagos Islands with Trump earlier on Thursday, adding that the UK and US would “continue to work closely on the implementation of the deal”.
The deal would see the UK transfer sovereignty of the islands whilst leasing back a joint UK-US military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia for an initial 99 years.
In his social media post, Trump did not give his explicit endorsement to the deal, but added he had held “very productive discussions” with Sir Keir.
He wrote: “I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, the best he could make.
“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.”
The US president added that he “will never allow our presence on a base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense”.
Sir Keir has insisted the deal is necessary to protect the continued operation of the base, amid previous attempts from Mauritius to dispute the legality of British sovereignty over the islands.
But it has been heavily criticised by the Conservatives and Reform UK, who have called for the agreement to be scrapped.
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