President Donald Trump on Tuesday dramatically reversed course on a British plan to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while warning it could jeopardize US access to the Diego Garcia military base.
Trump’s reversal highlights what one defense expert called a “new Trump doctrine,” before linking the president’s opposition to the Chagos deal to his Greenland move and citing fears that Mauritius could later withdraw.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday that Britain’s Chagos decision was “an act of great stupidity.”
“Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO ally, Britain, is currently planning to give away the island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital US military base, to Mauritius, for NO REASON whatsoever,” Trump wrote. “There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of utter weakness.”
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President Trump linked opposition to a transfer of Diego Garcia to his attempt to take over Greenland from Denmark. (Planet Labs PBC)
“These steps are interconnected and part of a ‘New Trump Doctrine’ as outlined in the November National Security Strategy,” he explained.
“Diego Garcia is a potential threat to Beijing’s strategy to control vital shipping lanes between the oil-rich Middle East and China’s industrial heartland,” he added, describing how “nearly 23.7 million barrels of oil pass through the Indian Ocean every day, with the base crucial in any US-China conflict over Taiwan.”
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President Donald Trump addresses the crowd during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, January 21, 2026. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)
In a separate post, Trump explicitly linked the Chagos dispute to his Greenland action.
“Britain’s giving away of extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is yet another in a long line of national security reasons why Greenland should be acquired,” Trump wrote.
The Chagos Islands were separated from Mauritius during Britain’s decolonization process, a move the International Court of Justice ruled unlawful in 2019.
Britain later agreed to transfer sovereignty and lease back Diego Garcia for at least 99 years at a cost of at least $160 million per year.
Diego Garcia is a hub for long-range bomber capabilities, logistics and power projection in the Middle East, Indo-Pacific and Africa. About 2,500 personnel, mainly Americans, are stationed there.
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Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago and site of a major US military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean, was leased from Britain in 1966. (Reuters)
“If Mauritius were to offer the islands to China after taking de jure control, it would put enormous pressure on the US in the eyes of international public opinion,” Hemmings explains.
‘After all, once Mauritius has de jure sovereignty, it can renegotiate the lease terms or even withdraw from the treaty at any time.
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“It could also provide access to the exclusive economic zone, with all its rich fishing grounds, for Chinese fishing fleets, adding an additional layer of risk to U.S. Air Force operations around the island,” Hemmings said.
“At this point, the US base at Diego Garcia is believed to be safe, with Mauritius promising the UK (and by proxy the US) a 99-year lease, which, it is believed, will not hamper the air base’s operations at all. But the devil is in the details.”
