London [UK], January 21: US President Donald Trump has lashed out at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the "act of great stupidity" in giving up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands which include the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.
The US president said handing the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius was a sign of "total weakness" by the UK.
The UK government has agreed to hand over the islands but will pay billions to lease back the strategically important Diego Garcia base. Ministers have claimed the deal is necessary because international court rulings in favour of Mauritian claims to sovereignty had threatened the future of the base.
In an extraordinary attack on his Truth Social platform, Trump said: "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.
"There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness." He highlighted the decision as a reason for his continued pursuit of Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
"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's strident criticism caught Starmer's office off guard as Trump had previously welcomed the agreement with Mauritius as a "monumental achievement" which the US viewed as securing the long-term future of the Diego Garcia facility.
Exactly a year after his inauguration, Trump's denunciation of the UK's policy comes after Starmer has sought to build a close relationship with the US president.
Opponents of the Chagos deal welcomed Trump's intervention, which they claimed could derail the agreement between the UK and Mauritius.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who over the weekend gave her backing to the prime minister's Greenland stance, told broadcasters: "Unfortunately for the prime minister, Donald Trump is right on the Chagos deal.
"This is surrendering British territory with a strategic military base on it for no reason whatsoever. It weakens our country. It is not in the national interest. It is a good deal for China and Russia, and the worst part is we're paying £35 billion of reparations to give away territory which we bought in the 1960s. That is wrong." (PA Media/dpa)
Source: Qatar Tribune
