It appears that the UK's deal to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius may be back on, as new security guarantees have garnered U.S. support for the deal.
After the UK's plan to transfer sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius with a lease-back provision that would allow the UK and US to maintain their joint military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island, was met with public criticism from President Trump, Prime Minister Keir Starmer seemingly backed away from the deal.
The president appeared to withdraw his support for the proposal during the row over Greenland, despite having endorsed the plan last year.
His change of heart threatened the future of the deal, and ministers privately conceded that the islands could not be returned without America’s blessing because of the importance of the Diego Garcia military base.
READ MORE: Trump, Sen. Kennedy Excoriate Bad UK Move on Diego Garcia That Sabotages Our National Security
Starmer Surrenders: Trump's New 'Stupidity' Call Kills Island Deal
But since then, it appears additional details have been hammered out to secure President Trump's blessing on the deal.
But in a social media post on Thursday, he described Sir Keir Starmer's deal, announced last year, as the "best he could make".
Downing Street said Sir Keir had discussed the Chagos Islands with Trump earlier on Thursday, adding that the UK and US would "continue to work closely on the implementation of the deal".
As noted above, in a Truth Social post on Thursday, the president signaled he is now amenable to the deal moving forward, but not without emphasizing the critical nature of the U.S. base there — and our willingness to secure it militarily if need be.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 5, 2026
I have had very productive discussions with Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the Island of Diego Garcia.
It is the site of a major U.S. Military Base, strategically situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean and, therefore, of great importance to the National Security of the United States.
We have the most powerful Military in the World. Our Military Operations, over the course of the last year, were successful because of the strength of our warfighters, modern capability of our equipment and, very importantly, the strategic location of our Military Bases for staging, and other reasons.
I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, the best he could make. However, if the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers U.S. 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.
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
So, at this point, it looks as though the deal is back on, with the U.S. making it clear that it can and will maintain its presence on Diego Garcia.
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