The U.K. government is seeking to determine whether U.S. President Donald Trump has the power to derail its plans to hand over sovereignty of a strategically vital island to Mauritius, after Trump called into question a deal he had previously backed.
Ministers are also trying to establish if the U.S. administration intends to veto the deal over the Chagos Islands, according to a person familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity speaking about a diplomatically sensitive topic. They said that if the U.S. does change its long-held position, it would likely be enough to unravel the agreement.
Under the deal brokered by U.S. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government, the U.K. will lease back a joint U.S.-U.K. military base on Diego Garcia from Mauritius for 99 years. After supporting the agreement last year, Trump last week called it an “act of total weakness” and “great stupidity.” That’s despite his own previous support and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s description of the deal as a “monumental achievement.”
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