US president Donald Trump is preparing a £15billion bid for a new territory as he moves on from his plans to buy Greenland – but is likely to face stiff opposition
Donald Trump is eyeing up a bid for the Chagos Islands after shelving his failed plans to purchase Greenland, according to new reports.
The sovereignty of the British-controlled archipelago in the Indian Ocean has been the subject of ongoing discussion between the UK government and Mauritius, with a deal to cede sovereignty put on hold earlier this year after the US withdrew its support. The islands are home to Diego Garcia, a joint UK-US military base that hosts “super-secret” facilities in a region under strategic threat from China.
Now, Trump is said to be looking to buy Chagos for the US in an effort to move on from the Greenland deal, which faltered earlier this year in the face of strong opposition from NATO allies.
The Chagos plan would reportedly involve sidestepping the UK entirely. One proposal, said to have been worked on by the White House and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, involves designating the islands sovereign and no longer a British Indian Ocean Territory, so the US can negotiate a direct purchase with Mauritius.
US officials are said to fear that if Mauritius takes control of the archipelago, it could open the door to maritime espionage and compromise the security of the Diego Garcia base.
But it remains unclear whether Mauritius – which has had its sovereignty over the islands recognised by international courts – would entertain an American bid, having previously signed an agreement to lease the islands back to Britain for 99 years before the US backed out of the deal. Experts have suggest that an outright purchase of the territory could cost around $20billion (£15billion).
It comes amid mounting concern over Chinese and Iranian influence in the Indian Ocean, with the base having been targeted by ballistic missiles fired from Tehran during the recent conflict.
In March, one missile reportedly suffered an in-flight failure and crashed, while the second missile was successfully shot down by an SM-3 interceptor launched from a US warship.
Discussing the geopolitical significance of Diego Garcia and the Chagos Islands, Ben Judah, David Lammy’s former special advisor when he was foreign secretary, previously told The Telegraph: “The moment you understand what it is, you come into the British deep state’s logic, which is that we must retain access to this thing at all costs. We would never be able to replicate it if we had to do it all by ourselves.
“This airbase… has super-secret, highly sensitive facilities there which are so important to what Britain is able to do in the world.”
