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Trump says UK's decision to hand over sovereignty to Chagos Islands is act of 'great stupidity'
The US president, Donald Trump, has suggested Britain’s decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is among the reasons he wants to take over Greenland.
In a Truth Social post, he said the UK’s plan to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is an “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY”. He said:
Shockingly, our “brilliant” NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.
There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness. These are International Powers who only recognize STRENGTH, which is why the United States of America, under my leadership, is now, after only one year, respected like never before.
The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.
Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING. Thank you for your attention to this matter. PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.
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This is Yohannes Lowe here. I am handing the blog over now to my brilliant colleague Jakub Krupa who will bring you the latest lines out of Europe over the course of the day.
Donald Trump’s very public assertion that the UK’s Chagos Island agreement was “an act of great stupidity” will seriously embarrass the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, who has tried to placate the president for favourable trading terms and to keep Washington on side as it is so integral (some would say dangerously so) to the UK’s national security and defence.
Yesterday, Starmer played down the prospect of retaliatory tariffs on the US, after Trump threatened to impose fresh levies against Nato allies if a deal over Greenland is not secured.
During a hastily arranged news conference held on Monday, Starmer said a “trade war is in no one’s interest” and said “alliances endure because they’re built on respect and partnership, not pressure”.
In a rare, direct rebuke to Trump, Starmer also said that “applying “tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of Nato allies is wrong”.
The British prime minister said he urged Trump to find a solution “rooted in partnership, facts and mutual respect” in a phone call over the weekend. . He was arguably quite naive to think his comments would help persuade Trump to change his mind on Greenland, which the president has repeatedly claimed the US must have because of its strategic location.
Trump, emboldened by the recent capture of the former Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, has intensified his rhetoric over Greenland, a largely self-governing part of Nato ally Denmark, which he says the US will take “one way or the other”.
The eight European countries targeted by Trump’s tariffs (Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK) warned of a “dangerous downward spiral” and said they “stand in full solidarity” with Denmark and Greenland against the threats of annexation.
Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos deal, Nigel Farage says
Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, has vowed to overturn the Chagos Islands agreement, saying the costly agreement was fuelled by a misplaced feeling of “postcolonial guilt” in a government “run by human rights lawyers”.
In a post to X this morning, Farage, who has a close relationship with Donald Trump, said: “Thank goodness Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos islands.”
What was contained within the UK-Chagos Islands agreement?
In May 2025, the UK signed an agreement to cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, but lease the largest one, Diego Garcia, for 99 years to continue operating a joint US-UK military base there.
The agreement followed lengthy negotiations started under the previous Conservative government after a 2019 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice said the UK should cede control.
As well as establishing a £40m fund for Chagossians expelled from the islands, the UK has agreed to pay Mauritius at least £120m annually during the 99-year agreement, a total cost in cash terms of at least £13bn.
The Conservatives framed the deal as “an act of national self-harm”, which left Britain more vulnerable to China because of its links with Mauritius.
The UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, vigorously defended the agreement at the time, saying there was “no alternative” to the deal as it was “part and parcel of using Britain’s reach to keep us safe at home” and hailed it as “one of the most significant contributions that we make to our security relationship with the United States”.
The UK bought the Chagos Islands for £3m in 1968 and forcibly displaced up to 2,000 people – to make way for the UK-US armed forces base – in what is widely seen as a crime against humanity and a shameful example of postwar colonialism.
The agreement is yet to be ratified by the UK government and has not been implemented into domestic law.
Trump says UK's decision to hand over sovereignty to Chagos Islands is act of 'great stupidity'
The US president, Donald Trump, has suggested Britain’s decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is among the reasons he wants to take over Greenland.
In a Truth Social post, he said the UK’s plan to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is an “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY”. He said:
Shockingly, our “brilliant” NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.
There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness. These are International Powers who only recognize STRENGTH, which is why the United States of America, under my leadership, is now, after only one year, respected like never before.
The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.
Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING. Thank you for your attention to this matter. PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.
Macron's text message shared by Trump on Truth Social is authentic, source says
The text message from Emmanuel Macron that Donald Trump shared on his Truth Social platform as a screenshot was authentic, a source close to the French president said on Tuesday morning.
“It demonstrates that the French president defends the same line in public as in private,” the source said, quoted by Reuters.
Macron told Trump that he could set up a meeting after Davos in Paris on Thursday afternoon, the message showed.
Trump’s reply, if any, was not part of the screenshot.
Trump says 'no going back' on Greenland
Donald Trump has said he had a “very good” telephone call with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte concerning Greenland.
The US president also said he had agreed to a meeting of various parties in Davos at the World Economic Forum (WEF), while not specifying who the parties were, Reuters reports.
“As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday.
There can be no going back - On that, everyone agrees!
Trump had earlier told reporters the US would talk about acquiring Greenland at the WEF because Denmark could not protect the territory.
Opening summary
Welcome to our European live coverage.
In the build-up to Donald Trump’s expected appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, the US president has reiterated his threats to take Greenland, suggesting Europe wouldn’t “push back too much”.
He also threatened 200% tariffs on French wine and champagne to get Emmanuel Macron to join his Gaza “board of peace”.
Trump is expected to meet global business leaders in Davos on Wednesday, Reuters has reported, as his presence looms large over the annual gathering of the global elite in the Swiss resort.
Business leaders – including CEOs in financial services, crypto and consulting – were invited to a reception after Trump’s special address to the forum, the news agency said, citing sources.
In key developments:
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Trump said of European leaders over his attempt to buy Greenland: “I don’t think they’re gonna push back too much. We have to have it. They have to have this done.”
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Trump, who is expected to arrive in Davos on Wednesday, has posted an image on his Truth Social platform of what he says is a “note from President Emmanuel Macon” in which it appears Macron says: “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland.” Macron also says “let us try to build great things” and that he can set up a G7 meeting in Paris on Thursday, also proposing a dinner with Trump that day.
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China is being represented in Davos by vice-premier He Lifeng, who is due to deliver an address on Tuesday.
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Tuesday’s program at the World Economic Forum also includes addresses from Macron, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Canadian prime minister Mark Carney.
