Ministers had already put the British Indian Ocean Territory (Sovereignty and Constitutional Arrangements) Bill on hold at the 11th-hour last month after the president called the deal — which Britain believed it had squared with Washington — an “act of GREAT STUPIDITY.”
They feared a Conservative “wrecking” amendment could succeed amid intense lobbying to overturn the agreement. The deal, which gives Mauritius control of former British imperial possession, was intended to shore up the use of a U.S.-U.K. military base on Diego Garcia through a lease agreement, while shielding the U.K. from international legal action over the islands’ fate.
The legislation was being lined up to return to the upper chamber as soon as next week after the U.S. State Department gave official backing to the deal in a statement on Tuesday, the senior official quoted above said.
But that official confirmed Thursday there will now be a rethink.
The U.S. president took to his Truth Social platform Wednesday to argue Starmer is “making a big mistake” with a “tenuous, at best” leasing back of Diego Garcia.
“This land should not be taken away from the U.K. and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our Great Ally,” Trump wrote. “We will always be ready, willing, and able to fight for the U.K., but they have to remain strong in the face of Wokeism, and other problems put before them. DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!”
Speaking to Sky News on Thursday, U.K. minister Alex Davies-Jones insisted the government would not be changing course despite Trump’s latest attack, and said: “We will be bringing this bill back as soon as parliamentary time allows, because it is a vital and crucial asset for national security.”
Opposition politicians in both the U.K. Conservative Party and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK have been lobbying the administration against the plans. Trump also argued that the base in the Indo-Pacific would be important in defending against Iran if negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program are not fruitful.