On Tuesday, the President made a dramatic U-turn on the United Kingdom’s plan to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, warning that this move could jeopardize U.S. access to the Diego Garcia military base.
Trump’s about-face underscores what a defense expert termed a “new Trump Doctrine,” then links the president’s opposition to the Chagos deal with his push for Greenland and cites fears that Mauritius might later back out.
In a Tuesday post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called the U.K.’s Chagos decision “an act of great stupidity.”
“Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia—the site of a —to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER,” Trump wrote. “There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness.”
“Trump has done a complete reversal, partly because of the U.K.’s support for and partly because of a new strategy outlined by the White House,” John Hemmings, director of the National Security Center at the , told Digital.
“These moves are interconnected and part of a ‘new Trump Doctrine’ laid out in November’s National Security Strategy,” he explained.
“Diego Garcia poses a potential threat to Beijing’s strategy of controlling vital shipping lanes between the oil-rich Middle East and China’s industrial heartland,” he added, noting that “nearly 23.7 million barrels of oil transit the Indian Ocean every day, with the base being critical in any U.S.-China conflict over Taiwan.”
In a separate post, Trump explicitly tied the Chagos dispute to his Greenland push.
“The U.K. giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a long line of national security reasons why Greenland must be acquired,” Trump wrote.
The Chagos Islands were separated from Mauritius during Britain’s decolonization process—a move the ruled unlawful in 2019.
The U.K. later agreed to transfer sovereignty while leasing Diego Garcia back for at least 99 years at an annual cost of no less than $160 million.
Diego Garcia serves as a hub for long-range bombers, logistics, and power projection across the Middle East, Indo-Pacific, and Africa. Around 2,500 personnel, , are stationed there.
“If Mauritius were to after taking de jure control, it would place immense pressure on the U.S. in the eyes of international public opinion,” Hemmings explained.
“After all, once Mauritius has , it can renegotiate the lease terms or even renege on the treaty at any time it wishes.
“It might also grant access to the exclusive economic zone—with all its rich fishing grounds—to , adding another layer of risk to U.S. Air Force operations around the island,” Hemmings said.
“At present, the U.S. base at Diego Garcia is considered secure, with Mauritius promising the U.K. (and by proxy, the U.S.) a 99-year lease that is not supposed to interfere with the operations of the at all. But the devil is in the details.”
Digital has reached out to the White House to request comment.