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An aerial view of the island Diego Garcia.
U.S. Navy/by way of AP
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U.S. Navy/by way of AP
LONDON — President Trump has accused the U.Ok. of “nice stupidity” over its resolution final yr to surrender sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, an archipelago within the Indian Ocean that is dwelling to one of the crucial vital U.S.-U.Ok. army bases, at Diego Garcia.
Trump steered that Britain’s resolution to cede the islands to Mauritius is without doubt one of the causes behind his need to take over the semiautonomous territory of Greenland, which is managed by Denmark.
Below the Chagos settlement — signed by the U.Ok. and Mauritius in Could 2025 — the U.Ok. can proceed leasing Diego Garcia, conserving the important thing army facility in British and American palms for 99 years at a price of greater than $100 million a yr. U.Ok. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has described Diego Garcia as important for Britain’s protection, intelligence and nationwide safety.
The U.S. had beforehand signaled assist for the settlement between the U.Ok. and Mauritius, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying in a assertion final Could that Trump “expressed his assist for this monumental achievement.”
However in a submit on Reality Social early Tuesday morning — simply hours earlier than a historic deal with to the U.Ok. Parliament by Home Speaker Mike Johnson — Trump took a markedly completely different tone. “Shockingly, our ‘good’ NATO Ally, the UK, is at the moment planning to present away the Island of Diego Garcia, the location of a significant U.S. Army Base, to Mauritius, and to take action FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER,” Trump mentioned within the submit.
“There is no such thing as a doubt that China and Russia have observed this act of whole weak point,” he mentioned. “The UK gifting away extraordinarily vital land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is one other in a really lengthy line of Nationwide Safety explanation why Greenland must be acquired.”
This transformation in tone is the newest pressure on the trans-Atlantic relationship and comes a day after Starmer insisted in a nationwide deal with that “calm dialogue between allies” was the easiest way to beat variations with the U.S. over Greenland.
In response to Trump’s criticisms, the British prime minister’s workplace mentioned in a press release on Tuesday that the deal was needed to guard the U.S.-U.Ok. army base.
“The UK won’t ever compromise on our nationwide safety. We acted as a result of the bottom on Diego Garcia was underneath menace after court docket choices undermined our place and would have prevented it working as meant in future,” the assertion mentioned, referring to previous worldwide court docket rulings that sided with Mauritius and mentioned the U.Ok. had to surrender sovereignty of the Chagos Islands. “This deal secures the operations of the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia for generations, with strong provisions for conserving its distinctive capabilities intact and our adversaries out.”
The assertion mentioned that the settlement had been backed by the U.Ok.’s intelligence allies, together with the U.S., saying, “It has been publicly welcomed by the US, Australia and all different 5 Eyes allies, in addition to key worldwide companions together with India, Japan and South Korea.”
Talking within the Home of Commons, the minister of state for Europe, North America and abroad territories, Stephen Doughty, mentioned he was “shocked” by Trump’s feedback and mentioned the U.Ok. would “have discussions with the [U.S.] administration within the coming days to remind them of the energy of this deal and the way it secures the bottom.”
U.S. Home Speaker Johnson, within the U.Ok. to mark 250 years of U.S. independence, acknowledged mounting tensions in his remarks to Parliament, saying he’d spoken with the president on Monday and “I felt that my mission right here right this moment was to encourage our pals and assist to calm the waters, so to talk.”
He mentioned the 2 nations would proceed to work by means of their variations as pals.
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