Donald Trump has signalled he will throw his support behind the Chagos Islands deal negotiated between the UK and Mauritius, in a significant win for Sir Keir Starmer.
Trump’s comments came as he hosted the British prime minister at the White House on Thursday for bilateral talks over the future of Ukraine.
“I have to see the details [of the Chagos Islands deal] but it doesn’t seem bad . . . I think we will be inclined to go along with your country,” Trump said as he sat beside Starmer in the Oval Office.
London has been braced for the Trump administration’s verdict on the proposed agreement, which would involve the UK handing sovereignty of the Indian Ocean territory to Mauritius in exchange for leasing back the archipelago’s largest island. The island houses a crucial US-UK joint military base.
Under the draft deal, agreed by Mauritius, Britain would lease the atoll of Diego Garcia for an initial 99-year period, with an option to extend it for another 40 years.
Asked by a British reporter if he would approve the deal, Trump said: “We’re going to have some discussions about that very soon, and I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well.
“They’re talking about a very long-term, powerful lease, a very strong lease, about 140 years actually — that’s a long time, and I think we’ll be inclined to go along with your country,” he added. “It’s a little bit early, we have to be given the details, but it doesn’t sound bad.”
India, the regional power with close ties to Mauritius, has also backed the deal.
British officials said the issue had not been raised by the US administration during preparations for the visit, suggesting that it was not a priority for the new president.
However, UK foreign secretary David Lammy said this week that Britain was extending an effective veto on the deal to Trump owing to its implications for US security.
The Diego Garcia base has been a launch pad for long-range US bomber aircraft in recent decades and is considered a crucial listening post in the region.
Senior Republican allies of Trump have been critical of the deal hammered out between the UK and Mauritius, citing concerns that it can bolster Chinese interests in the Indian Ocean.
Opposition MPs in Britain, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who is a friend of Trump, and Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch, have also heaped scorn on the deal, including its price tag of about £9bn for the initial 99-year lease.
The UK government has defended the deal, arguing that international lawyers have cast doubt over the future operations of the air base and port facility on Diego Garcia if a deal was not struck.