It’s understood the Trump administration will “imminently” write to Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the controversial Chagos Islands deal.
Donald Trump’s administration is expected to write to Sir Keir over the issue (Image: Getty )
A game-changing letter is expected to land on Sir Keir Starmer’s desk “imminently” withdrawing US support for the controversial sale of the British Chagos Islands. According to GB News, the US State Department is set to send a potentially bombshell communication to the Prime Minister and Foreign Office with a change of America’s stance over the deal.
Sir Keir had previously told the Commons that Washington supported the move, which would see the islands in the Indian Ocean sold. The largest island of the archipelago, Diego Garcia, would then be leased back to Britain for at least 99 years with payments made to the new owner Mauritius. Dozens of MPs and analysts have opposed the plan, which would see the land under a major US-UK military base on Diego Garcia effectively given away.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio initially suggested the US backed the agreement, but two weeks ago the President appeared to signal a change of heart on social media, describing the deal as an “act of great stupidity”. And now Robert Midgley, from Friends of the British Overseas Territories, told The Late Show Live on GB News that Washington was preparing to slap down Sir Keir and the Foreign Office.
Labour have been attempting to forge ahead with the sale of the British territory (Image: Getty )
He told the channel that he had met with US State Department officials on Friday, adding: “They will be imminently writing officially to the FCDO [Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office] to confirm their new policy stance towards the Chagos Islands, which will be following Donald Trump‘s stance from Truth Social.”
Trump’s social media post on January 20 stated: “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 added: “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.”
The territory is home to a key US and British air base (Image: Getty )
Referring to Mr Trump’s comments, Mr Midgley told GB News: “The UK hasn’t taken that seriously enough. What they have been taken seriously enough is Marco Rubio’s post for May 2025, so they keep referring it back.”
“No10 is definitely spinning right now,” Mr Midgley added.
Britain’s deal with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia is “falling apart every day”, the Conservatives have said, as they repeated their call for it to be scrapped.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the Government had come up with a “surrender deal” to give away sovereignty of the islands, and claimed it had “gaslit” critics.
It comes after the Government postponed a debate on the deal in the House of Lords, following the Tories tabling an amendment that called for a pause “in the light of the changing geopolitical circumstances”.
Their bid to halt the legislation came after US president Donald Trump branded the deal an “act of great stupidity”, despite previous support from the White House.
Labour’s foreign minister Seema Malhotra said Tory criticisms were “political point-scoring at the expense of our national security”.
Earlier this month the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the UK Government’s position on Chagos “remains unchanged”.
“This deal secures the operations of the joint US-UK base for generations. It has robust provisions for keeping its unique capabilities intact and our adversaries out,” he said.
