Britain Reviews Chagos Deal After Trump's Damning Verdict

Britain is reviewing its agreement to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, the defence secretary has said, after President Donald Trump denounced the deal as "terrible" during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Wes Streeting confirmed on Wednesday that the arrangement was under fresh scrutiny following the American president's remarks, acknowledging that Washington's opposition had rendered the existing terms untenable. The original agreement, struck under Sir Keir Starmer, would see Britain cede the archipelago to Mauritius while paying an average of £101m annually to lease back the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, valued for its strategic position in the Indian Ocean.

The deal was paused indefinitely in April after Trump withdrew his support. Streeting told BBC Breakfast that Britain "has to" revisit the terms "because the United States doesn't support it". He added: "What President Trump said yesterday wasn't new but I think it does provide absolute clarity that his position on this Chagos deal as currently drafted is not changing. So we have to do more work with our American allies, with President Trump and his administration, to get the deal to a place where he can support it."

The defence secretary said the priority now was securing long-term certainty for the Diego Garcia base. Every British prime minister since Boris Johnson had taken the view that ongoing legal proceedings—Mauritius argues it was illegally forced to surrender the islands in 1965 as a condition of independence—posed a risk to the base's security.

During Trump's first face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Andy Burnham at the General Assembly, the American president criticised the "terrible deal" and said Britain was "going to be looking" at it. Burnham replied: "Yep." He later told broadcasters he had "inherited the situation and we need a resolution", adding: "It's critical to safeguard the future of the base, and that matters to us for security reasons, but also clearly to the United States as well. What I said in the meeting is that we will work to find that resolution between the different sides, and we'll work hard to find it."

The prime minister had spoken to his Mauritian counterpart, Navin Ramgoolam, before travelling to New York. An official readout of that conversation said Burnham "reiterated his commitment to continue doing everything possible" alongside the United States to ratify the deal. The review is not expected to constitute a formal process operating to a specific timetable.

Government sources insist that the comments from Burnham and Streeting do not represent a major departure from the previous position—that any agreement would require American backing. Streeting's remarks were nonetheless notable for their explicit acknowledgement that, without changes, the deal will not attract Trump's support.

Before the pause in April, Britain and Mauritius had signed an agreement in May 2025, though a final draft of the bill to transfer sovereignty had not passed Parliament. Under the terms agreed in 2025, Britain would hand sovereignty over the archipelago to Mauritius but lease back the Diego Garcia base for 99 years, at what the government said would be a net overall cost of £3.4bn. Sir Keir, then prime minister, faced heavy criticism from opponents who claimed the true cost could reach £35bn when adjusted for inflation and warned that China might establish a presence on the islands.

Trump has been a frequent critic of the arrangement, previously branding it "a blight on our great ally" and "an act of total weakness". Responding to the review, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called on Burnham to "just scrap this terrible deal". Reform UK leader Nigel Farage declared: "The Chagos deal is dead. Thank God."

In 2019, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion that Britain's separation of the Chagos Islands from Mauritius was unlawful and stated that the UK must end its administration as rapidly as possible. Though non-binding, the opinion—endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly—strengthened Mauritian claims to sovereignty and led Britain to open negotiations in 2022.

Streeting told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that no money would be handed to Mauritius "at this stage" while officials conduct the review. Describing Diego Garcia as "one of the most sensitive and valuable national security assets", he said work was underway to find an agreement "that maybe not everyone loves, but everyone can live with".