Trump Slams U.K. Chagos Deal, Threatens Greenland Move

LEAD: President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, calling the United Kingdom's May 2025 treaty to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and lease back Diego Garcia for 99 years "an act of GREAT STUPIDITY," warning that "China and Russia have noticed" and linking the decision to his stated plan to acquire Greenland, according to his Truth Social post.

CONTEXT: The U.K. and Mauritius signed the agreement in May 2025 that recognizes Mauritian sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory while allowing the U.K. to lease Diego Garcia for 99 years and, the British government said, will include payments of at least 120 million pounds ($160 million) a year to Mauritius to secure continued base operations after international court rulings challenged British administration.

RESPONSE: Downing Street and Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended the deal on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, saying "the UK will never compromise on our national security" and that the treaty "secures the operations of the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia for generations," while Cabinet Minister Pat McFadden said Trump's flurry of posts showed the president "is frustrated" and Minister of State Stephen Doughty said he was "surprised" and would have discussions with the U.S. administration, government statements and Commons remarks show.

SCALE: The Diego Garcia facility hosts about 2,500 mostly American personnel, U.S. military statements say, an estimated 10,000 displaced Chagossians and descendants now live mainly in Britain, Mauritius and the Seychelles, and parliamentary records show the implementing bill passed the House of Lords and is due back in the House of Commons for further debate this week.

FORWARD: Opponents including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have pledged to press Prime Minister Keir Starmer to rescind the treaty as Commons debate resumes this week, while the U.K. says the deal is intended to be irreversible and officials plan talks with U.S. counterparts in the coming days to "remind" Washington of the pact's security provisions, government and parliamentary sources said.