Donald Trump could TORPEDO hated Chagos giveaway, admits No10 in fresh blow to Keir Starmer
Downing Street has now acknowledged that Donald Trump might sabotage Sir Keir Starmer’s agreement to cede the Chagos Islands.
Prior to the president-elect’s visit to the White House the following week, the PM had intended to finalize the $9 billion deal with Mauritius.
However, because British authorities seek the incoming administration’s explicit assent, the actual announcement of a contract will now be delayed.
Although Trump cannot officially veto the agreement, the UK respects Washington’s stance and wants the new administration to support it, the prime minister’s spokesperson made clear.
He stated: “It’s perfectly reasonable for the US administration to consider the details.”
The potential agreement has not been discussed in public by the president-elect, nor was it mentioned in his late December phone conversation with Sir Keir Starmer.
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However, last October, Marco Rubio, his choice for Secretary of State, attacked the initiative, arguing that it may increase Chinese dominance in the Indian Ocean.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s new national security advisor, has also sounded the alarm.
He said in 2022 that the negotiations would jeopardize the vital Diego Garcia naval outpost.
A protracted dispute has centered on the Chagos Islands, with Mauritius vying for sovereignty.
Because of the US military facility on Diego Garcia and the islands’ strategic significance for global defense, the UK had opposed giving them up.
However, in order to transfer the islands and maintain control of the vital Diego Garcia naval station for 99 years, the new Labour Government made a 9 billion dollar agreement with Mauritius.
However, the contract was thrown into disarray when Navin Ramgoolam, Mauritius’s new leader, gained government and requested even more money for the base.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch blasted the deal today, saying, “There is no way that we should be giving up British territory in Chagos.” The pact has also caused fury back home.
He is hurrying through an agreement that will be terrible and cost taxpayers billions of pounds.
Why, according to the Prime Minister, should the British people pay to give up something that is already theirs?
Sir Keir said, “We inherited a situation where a legal challenge threatened the long-term operation of a vital military base.”
The previous administration initiated the negotiations.