Donald Trump warns Keir Starmer to not give in to ‘wokeism’ and give away Chagos Islands
Donald Trump has flip-flopped over whether Sir Keir Starmer should ‘give in to wokeism’ and hand the Chagos Islands back to Mauritius, a day after approving the deal.
His defiant message comes as dozens of planes head towards the Middle East with tensions between Iran and the US reaching a breaking point after nuclear talks.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president said Sir Keir would be making ‘a big mistake’ if he proceeded with plans to hand over the islands – which are home to a joint US-UK military base.
The plans would see the UK lease the base on Diego Garcia from Mauritius at a cost of £35 billion over the next century.
On Tuesday, the US State Department said it ‘supports the decision of the United Kingdom to proceed with its agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago’.
But in his post on Wednesday, Mr Trump said leases were ‘no good’, adding the base could be necessary for a strike on Iran.
He said: ‘Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia, by entering a tenuous, at best, 100 Year Lease.
‘This land should not be taken away from the UK and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our Great Ally.
‘We will always be ready, willing, and able to fight for the UK, but they have to remain strong in the face of Wokeism, and other problems put before them. Do not give away Diego Garcia.’
Mr Trump claimed the Prime Minister was ‘losing control of this important Island by claims of entities never known of before’.
The Chagos Islands have been the subject of a decades-long sovereignty dispute after they were not granted independence along with the rest of Mauritius in 1965.
The Chagossian population was subsequently expelled from the archipelago to make way for the base, and have staged a long-running campaign for the right to return.
On Wednesday sources suggested that any US conflict in Iran would likely be a joint operation with Israel.
It comes as one Trump adviser told Axios: ‘The boss is getting fed up. Some people around him warn him against going to war with Iran, but I think there is 90% chance we see kinetic action in the next few weeks.’
Mr Trump’s post is the latest change in his position on the Chagos deal.
Earlier in February, he had backed the proposals, saying Sir Keir’s deal was ‘the best he could make’.
That statement came a week after Mr Trump had described the deal as ‘an act of great stupidity’ amid the row over his attempts to annex Greenland, despite his administration previously backing the agreement.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the president’s outburst was ‘an utter humiliation’ for the Prime Minister.
She said: ‘It’s time Starmer finally saw sense, U-turned and scrapped this appalling deal altogether.’