British Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed on Wednesday that the UK has resumed discussions with the Trump administration over the fate of the Chagos Islands, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, or BIOT.
The Chagos Islands are a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean. In the 1960s–1970s, the UK detached them from Mauritius (then a British colony) to create BIOT and evicted the indigenous Chagossian population to make way for a major joint UK-US military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia.
Mauritius long expressed anger over this decision. But in May of last year, Starmer and Mauritius’ leadership finally signed a deal saying that the UK would return the entire Chagos Archipelago (including Diego Garcia) to Mauritius.
At first, the Trump administration expressed support for the deal. However, in a Truth Social post published earlier this month, President Donald Trump called the deal an “act of great stupidity.”
🚨🇺🇸 BREAKING: President Trump says the UK handing over the Chagos Islands is an act of “great stupidity” pic.twitter.com/U2ulrdIObu
— Politics Global (@PolitlcsGlobal) January 20, 2026
“Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER,” he wrote.
“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,” he added.
But in remarks made this Wednesday while he was on a trip to China, Starmer suggested that talks between the US and UK regarding the fate of the Chagos Islands have resumed.
“Speaking to reporters on a trip to China, Starmer said renewed talks on the agreement — which sees Britain cede sovereignty of the islands housing U.S. military base Diego Garcia to Mauritius — were now underway with Washington, DC,” Politico has confirmed.
Starmer also made it a point to draw attention to the Trump administration’s previous support for the deal.
“The position, as you know, is that when the Trump administration came in, we paused for three months to give them time to consider the Chagos deal, which they did at agency level,” he said.
“And once they’d done that, they were very clear in the pronouncements about the fact that they supported the deal, and they were announcements made by… the defense secretary … I think Marco Rubio as well, and by President Trump himself,” he added.
The U.S. welcomes the historic agreement between the UK and Mauritius on the future of the Chagos Archipelago. This agreement secures the long-term, stable, and effective operation of the joint U.S.-UK military facility at Diego Garcia, which is critical to regional and global…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) May 22, 2025
According to the Financial Times, Starmer’s spokesperson also confirmed on Wednesday that he’s been trying to “allay concerns” from the Trump administration (mainly Trump) about the deal.
“We will continue to engage with the US on this important matter and the importance of the deal to secure US and UK interests and allay any concerns, as we’ve done throughout the process,” the spokesperson said.
Other British officials, meanwhile, said that “we have seen nothing” from the Trump administration, aside from the president’s social media post, suggesting that the administration is unhappy with the deal.
The deal is opposed by Starmer’s political enemies/opposition in the UK.
“The Americans have woken up to the fact that they were lied to,” Trump ally Nigel Farage reportedly said after Trump’s social media outburst earlier this month concerning the Chagos deal.
The Americans have woken up to the fact that they were lied to.
They were told that the UK had no choice but to surrender the Chagos Islands. This was simply not true, and now they are angry with us.
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) January 20, 2026
Keir Starmer has lied to the British people about his Chagos deal.
He has lied to the Americans about his Chagos deal.
The worst deal in British history should be cancelled. pic.twitter.com/s97FRkSvTR
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) January 29, 2026
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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