WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he retains the right to "militarily secure and reinforce the American presence" in the Chagos Archipelago following "very productive" discussions with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, marking a reversal from his sharp criticism last month.
"I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, the best he could make," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, referring to an agreement transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius signed by Starmer in 2025.
"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," Trump warned.
He depicted the joint U.S.-Britain military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago, as a strategic installation in the Indian Ocean of great importance to U.S. national security and global military operations.
In a post last month, Trump slammed Britain's decision to cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as an act of "great stupidity."
In 2019, the International Court of Justice said that Britain had illegally split the islands and should give up control of them.
Last year, Starmer signed an agreement transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Under the terms of the agreement, reportedly lasting 99 years, Mauritius will lease the Diego Garcia military base back to Britain and the United States.
In 1965, the islands were separated from Mauritius, then still a British colony. Britain then invited the United States to build a military base there, a move that displaced thousands of Chagossian residents. ■
