US Retains Right To ‘Militarily Secure’ Chagos Air Base, Trump Says

Authored by Evgenia Filimianova via The Epoch Times,

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 5  he retained the right to “militarily secure” the U.S.–UK Diego Garcia air base in the Chagos Islands, if future arrangements threatened American access.

Trump has criticized the UK’s decision to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, calling it an “act of total weakness” last month. Under the agreement, signed in October 2025, the Diego Garcia military base would remain under UK control for at least 99 years, ensuring continued access for U.S. forces.

Trump said in a Feb. 5 post on Truth Social that he held “productive discussions” with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the issue.

“I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, the best he could make,” he said. “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.”

The base is regarded by the United States as a critical hub for operations across the Middle East, East Africa, and the Indo-Pacific.

Trump cited its strategic location and “great importance” to the U.S. national security.

“We have the most powerful Military in the World. Our Military Operations, over the course of the last year, were successful because of the strength of our warfighters, modern capability of our equipment and, very importantly, the strategic location of our Military Bases for staging, and other reasons,” he said. “Let it be known that I will never allow our presence on a Base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said in a Feb. 5 statement that Starmer and Trump “agreed on the importance of the deal to secure the joint UK-U.S. base on Diego Garcia, which remains vital to shared security interests.”

“The UK and US will continue to work closely on the implementation of the deal, they agreed,” the spokesperson added.

An undated photograph shows an aerial view of Diego Garcia. U.S. Navy via AP

Starmer said in January that the issue had been raised repeatedly with the White House and maintained that the Trump administration had already reviewed and supported the agreement at an agency level.

Legislation to implement the Chagos treaty is currently in the final stages of British parliamentary scrutiny, known as “ping pong,” as amendments are exchanged between the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

The deal, which includes 3 billion pounds ($4 billion) to be paid by the UK to Mauritius over the term of the agreement, with an option for a 50-year extension, is opposed by a number of Conservative Party lawmakers.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch last month told lawmakers in Parliament that Starmer is “giving away” UK territory and paying 35 billion pounds ($47.5 billion) “for the privilege.”

“Donald Trump is right: Labour are betraying Britain by giving away the Chagos Islands. Keir Starmer is *paying* Mauritius £34bn to seize our sovereignty and make us a tenant in our own military base. He needs to end this self-sabotage,” Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said in a Jan. 20 post on X.

Addressing lawmakers during a debate in Parliament on Jan. 28, British Foreign Office Minister Seema Malhotra said that the treaty protected British and allied interests.

She said that the deal “guarantees full UK operational control of Diego Garcia for generations to come.”

Malhotra also said that the opposition’s cost estimates were “wildly exaggerated” and that government figures had been independently verified.