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Posted on 01/20/2026 10:24:54 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The US president said the UK's decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is among the reasons he wants to take control of Greenland. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticised the UK's deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, calling it an "act of great stupidity" and "total weakness."
Trump said that relinquishing the remote Indian Ocean archipelago — home to a key joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island — was "another in a very long line of national security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired."
"Shockingly, our 'brilliant' NATO ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital US military base, to Mauritius, and to do so for no reason whatsoever," he said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
"There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness."
"The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of great stupidity, and is another in a very long line of national security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired," Trump added.
The UK signed the £3.4bn (€3.9bn) agreement with Mauritius in May, under which London will retain control of the Diego Garcia military base under a long-term lease.
Washington welcomed the deal at the time, saying then that it "secures the long-term, stable and effective operation" of the facility at Diego Garcia.
The US has described the base — home to about 2,500 mostly American personnel — as "an all but indispensable platform" for security operations in the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.
Speaking on Tuesday, UK Cabinet Minister Darren Jones said that the agreement would "secure that military base for the next 100 years."
"The treaty has already been signed," Jones told Times Radio, adding that it could not be changed.
Mauritius' government responded to Trump's criticism, saying the issue should no longer be open to debate.
"The sovereignty of the Republic of Mauritius over the Chagos archipelago is already recognised without ambiguity under international law and should no longer be a subject for debate," said Mauritian Attorney General Gavin Glover.
One of the last remnants of the British Empire, the Chagos Islands have been under UK control since 1814. The UK split the islands away from Mauritius — a former British colony — in 1965, three years before Mauritius gained independence.
Trump has insisted the US needs the Arctic Island for security reasons against possible threats from Beijing and Moscow.
The US president has linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year's decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway's prime minister in a text message over the weekend that he no longer felt "an obligation to think purely of peace."
That followed his announcement that the US would implement a wave of increasing tariffs from February on goods from eight EU nations that have rallied behind Denmark.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that relations with Europe remain strong. He urged trading partners to "take a deep breath" and allow tensions driven by the Trump administration's new tariff threats over Greenland to "play out."
"I think our relations have never been closer," he said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
In a sign of how growing tensions, thousands of Greenlanders protested over the weekend against any effort to take over their island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Monday that the tariff threats would not change their stance.
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Trump is correct.
Yes, but what do you expect from LibTards?
Libs actually believe that they will get a better, long term deal from Russia or China that the US...just amazingly short sighted and ignorant
But the UK can’t run anything these days
Great Power competition has always been going on. We just hid it under the propaganda of NATO, “multilateral institutions” the UN, and “the new world order.”
It has become a contradiction as Europe has steadily weakened itself, and gone aggressively neo-marxist.
When Biden blew up Germany/Russia’s Nordstream pipeline - what was that?
Trump is at least out in the open about it.
You secure the military base by owning it, not leasing it.
And yes, this is another reason to make Greenland a territory. Our UK and EU allies hate MAGA and favor China, illegal aliens and controlled speech.
Ping
Traveling, nothing more for the time being.
We should seize Diego Garcia.
I have been to both islands. The inhabitants of Diego Garcia were dropped off on Mauritius when England colonized the island way back when.
I believe the salient point is that our “allies” cannot be trusted. (Not that we haven’t known that for a long time now.)
We sank a lot of money into Diego Garcia. A lot.
And then, under the Biden Administration, like leaving a fart in an elevator, the UK announced it was handing it over, doubtless with the full consent of those in charge in the Biden Administration instead of putting up a fight.
If he wants to take a popular step, notify the Brits we are not giving up Diego Garcia and will take ownership when they leave.
If he wants to take a popular step, notify the Brits we are not giving up Diego Garcia and will take ownership when they leave. Better yet, ordeer them out and we will have it to ourselves.
DG has a considerable investment in things we both can and can not speak of. It will remain a key strategic asset for a very long time. Maybe in a hundred years we wont need it anymore, but for the next fifty, no sane CIC is going to allow it to be taken away. And we would fight for that.
Mauritius has been on my short list of places to flee to if money were not an issue. They actually have an Institute of Christ the King traditional Catholic church there. My wife would love the climate and water, And she could speak with the francophones there.
You’re right. And there is a lease that we hold for an extended period of time, so there is that.
But what we cannot control now is what goes on around Diego Garcia. Not that we could have before, but we had an ostensible “ally”in the UK that would have controlled it “better”.
No longer.
Now Republic of Mauritius controls all territory around there including the other islands in the archipelago of which the closest is 30 miles away. Who is to say that the Republic of Mauritius won’t develop a close relationship with Communist China (or some other prospective enemy) who might decide to get a lease on one of those Island for the purpose of surveillance at best, or tactical (or strategic) missile launches at worst?
I know I am preaching to the choir here, but when Trump called this action by the UK stupid, I suspect this is the root of Trump’’s animus towards it.
There is a far greater need for the US to claim the Chagos Islands. We have a critical base there that must remain in our hands. Since Britain is determined to give it away, they can give it to us.
It must not go to Mauritius unless we are prepared to claim Mauritius as well. This is far more important than Greenland..
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