Trump cites UK’s ‘stupidity’ over Chagos Islands as reason to take over Greenland

Original article by Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor

Donald Trump has suggested Britain’s decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is among the reasons he wants to take over Greenland.

The US president, who is travelling to Davos in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, made the claim as he ramped up his rhetoric on acquiring the Arctic territory.

Trump fired off a flurry of posts on his Truth Social platform overnight on Tuesday about taking over Greenland, which is a territory of Denmark, the US’s Nato ally.

Writing on the website, Trump 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 US 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 recognise 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.”

The move will come as a huge shock to No 10 after the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, gave his warm endorsement of the handover when it was first approved.

A UK government spokesperson said: “The UK will never compromise on our national security. We acted because the base on Diego Garcia was under threat after court decisions undermined our position and would have prevented it operating as intended in future.

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“This deal secures the operations of the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia for generations, with robust provisions for keeping its unique capabilities intact and our adversaries out.

“It has been publicly welcomed by the US, Australia and all other Five Eyes allies, as well as key international partners including India, Japan and South Korea.”

Trump’s comments will add fuel to Conservative and Reform criticisms of the move, which have cited US concerns as a reason to deny the deal with Mauritius.

Immediately after the comments, the shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, said: “President Trump has said what we’ve said all along – Labour’s £35bn Chagos surrender is a bad deal for Britain and bad for our national security. We’ve opposed it from day one and it’s time Starmer put the security of our country first and scrap his rotten deal.”

The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said: “Paying to surrender the Chagos islands is not just an act of stupidity, but of complete self sabotage. I’ve been clear, and unfortunately on this issue President Trump is right.

“Keir Starmer’s plan to give away the Chagos Islands is a terrible policy that weakens UK security and hands away our sovereign territory. And to top it off, makes us and our Nato allies weaker in face of our enemies.”

Badenoch said she had met Mike Johnson, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, on Monday night, where he had agreed the handover of the islands was a mistake.

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said: “Thank goodness Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos islands.”

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, suggested Trump’s intervention would not have an effect on the UK’s deal with Mauritius. “We’ve done a deal with the Mauritian government, we’ve legislated for the process, we’ve agreed the terms of the treaty, which has been signed,” he told Sky News. “This is the way in which to secure that military base for the next 100 years.”

Jones said Starmer was keeping calm about the criticism, as well as about the threatened tariffs on the UK over its support for Greenland. “We disagree with President Trump on Greenland, and the prime minister has been very clear about that. In the past the prime minister has shown that private, proper British diplomacy can work … he has a good track record of this,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“It’s noisy, I understand that, it’s challenging, it’s not normal for geopolitical discussion to be handled in this way. But British diplomacy is working.”

The UK has signed a £3.4bn agreement to cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius but the deal is facing significant opposition in the House of Lords. On Monday, the MP Andrew Rosindell, who defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK, cited a failure to stand up for the Chagos Islands as a major factor in leaving the party.

Under the agreement, Britain cedes control over the islands to Mauritius but leases the largest island, Diego Garcia, for 99 years to continue operating a joint US-UK military base there.

Downing Street has said in the past that the deal is a “legal necessity” and backed by the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which are part of an intelligence-sharing partnership with the UK. In 2021 a UN court gave an advisory opinion that the UK did not have rightful sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago.

At the time of the agreement in May 2025, Rubio said the US “welcomed the historic agreement”. It went on: “This is a critical asset for regional and global security. President Trump expressed his support for this monumental achievement during his meeting with Prime Minister Starmer at the White House.

“This milestone reflects the enduring strength of the US-UK relationship.”

Critics of the handover have said the deal gives China an opening in the region because of its close relations with Mauritius. Trump has regularly cited fears of Chinese influence as a reason he intends the US to take over Greenland.

Starmer is not expected to travel to Davos to meet Trump – though Trump has also posted on Truth Social what appeared to be a text from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, asking the US president to convene a summit of world leaders at Davos in order to speak about the Greenland crisis.