Trump calls UK's Chagos deal with Mauritius 'stupid' and 'weak'

Bangkok Post Group

U.S. President Donald Trump lambasted Britain's deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago including an island with an important U.S.-UK air base as an act of "total weakness" and "great stupidity" underlining why he wants to acquire Greenland. - REUTERS

Transcript

00:01Total weakness and great stupidity.

00:04That's how Donald Trump has described a British deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands,

00:09including the location of an important U.S.-U.K. airbase.

00:13And it's one reason the U.S. President wrote on social media

00:16why he said the States has to acquire Greenland.

00:20Last year, the U.K. agreed to a deal that would give the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius,

00:25with Britain retaining control of the Diego Garcia base under a 99-year lease.

00:31Over 2,000 indigenous Chagosians were displaced in the 60s and 70s to establish the base.

00:38It has most recently been used to strike Houthi targets in Yemen

00:41and for humanitarian aid deployments to Gaza.

00:44Writing on Truth Social, Trump said Diego Garcia was being handed over for no reason whatsoever,

00:50and that there is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness.

00:56Responding to Trump's comments, the British government said the sovereignty deal had been made

01:00for national security reasons.

01:02The base on Diego Garcia was under threat after court decisions undermined our position,

01:07a spokesperson said, and would have prevented it operating as intended in future.

01:12Indeed, Washington last year gave its blessing to the deal.

01:16In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump had given his support to this monumental achievement.

01:23We need Greenland for national security purposes.

01:26But Trump's latest comments come against the backdrop of strained tensions

01:30with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over Greenland.

01:33Starmer, who had built a solid relationship with Trump,

01:36has spoken out against the U.S. President's ambition to acquire the Arctic island

01:40by any means to counter China and Russia.

01:43On Monday, the British PM called for calm dialogue to avert a trade war

01:48and urged Trump to respect alliances.

01:50That's after Trump vowed to use tariffs against those who stood in his way.

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