Donald Trump has backed Keir Starmer’s controversial Chagos Islands deal, despite describing it previously as an act of “great stupidity”.
The prime minister had accused the US President of trying to use the agreement to pressure him over Greenland.
The US president sent shockwaves through Downing Street last month with his attack on Sir Keir’s plans to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, in a deal the government says is necessary to secure the future of the crucial UK-US Diego Garcia military base.
Ministers secured US backing for the deal last year. And in February, the president told Sir Keir during a visit to the White House that he was “inclined to go with your country” and that he had “a feeling it’s going to work out very well”.
But in a dramatic U-turn, the US president denounced it as “an act of great stupidity”.
In return, Sir Keir accused him of trying to pressure the UK to back America’s plans to take over Greenland.
Now using a post on his Truth Social platform, the President wrote that he had had “very productive discussions” with Sir Keir about the deal.
Under the plan, which will cost £35 billion over the next century, the UK will cede sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius but lease back the facility on the island of Diego Garcia.
Mr Trump said: “I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, (is) the best he could make.
“However, if the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers US operations and forces at our Base, I retain the right to Militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia.
“Let it be known that I will never allow our presence on a Base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense.”
Sir Keir withdrew his Chagos Islands bill in the face of a shock backlash over the deal from the US, days after Donald Trump’s outburst.
But the latest climbdown from the President allows it to return to the House of Lords.
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