Trump criticized Britain over Chagos and mentioned Greenland again: what’s behind the statement
20 January 22:19
US President Donald Trump has publicly criticized the UK’s decision to transfer the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, saying that this move demonstrates the “weakness” of allies and is an argument in favor of the United States owning Greenland.
Trump’s statement was quoted by The Guardian, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
He posted it on his website, commenting on London’s agreement on the archipelago, where a strategic British-American military base is located on Diego Garcia Island.
“An act of great stupidity”
Trump called Britain’s decision “an act of great stupidity” and said that London was handing over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius “for no reason.” According to him, such actions only encourage the West’s geopolitical rivals.
“There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of complete weakness. These are international states that only recognize strength,” the American president wrote, adding that under his leadership, the US “is respected as never before.”
It is in this context that Trump has returned to his long-standing idea about Greenland, arguing that the United States must control strategically important territories in order to prevent its position in the world from weakening.
London’s response
A spokesperson for the British government rejected Trump’s criticism, explaining that the transfer of the archipelago to Mauritius was a necessary and pragmatic step.
According to him, the base at Diego Garcia was under threat due to a series of international court rulings that undermined Britain’s legal position and could complicate its future operations. Instead, he stressed, the new agreement “secures the joint US-British base for generations to come” and guarantees the preservation of its military capabilities.
London also stressed that the agreement contains provisions aimed at protecting the base from potential threats from opponents of the West.
Historical and international context
The Chagos Archipelago is a group of seven atolls and more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean that were long part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. In the 1960s and 1970s, the UK forcibly evicted the local population, the Chagossians, in what has since been described as a crime against humanity.
For decades, Mauritius insisted that it had been forced to give up the Chagos in exchange for independence and claimed that British control of the islands was illegal. In October 2024, the UK agreed to transfer the archipelago to Mauritius after the UN International Court of Justice, the UN General Assembly, and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea supported Port Louis’ position.
The agreement had previously been supported by the US and other allies of London, but it drew criticism within the UK and among Chagos activists. The latter even appealed to Donald Trump for support, offering to symbolically name the archipelago after him.
