The Trump administration is considering a plan to buy the Chagos Islands, the Indian Ocean archipelago from Mauritius, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. This comes as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans to cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius.
US officials have drafted a proposal to bypass Britain and make their own deal to take control of Diego Garcia, the strategically important UK–US military base. White House is ramping up efforts aimed at providing alternatives to the Prime Minister’s plan, which would hand control of the islands to Mauritius, an ally of China and Iran.
Why is the island important to the US?
Mauritius maintains good relations with both Iran and China — one of which the US is currently in conflict with, and the other of which Washington seeks to limit from expanding its naval influence.
While purchasing the islands is not a priority for the government, The Telegraph, citing sources, reported that the idea was raised with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who then raised it with US President Donald Trump.
White House officials are in regular conversation with Downing Street about securing the future of Diego Garcia, one US official with knowledge of the discussions told The Telegraph.
Diego Garcia’s strategic location would give the US greater reach in the region, placing Iran within operational range for long-range bomber missions, similar to strikes carried out using B-2 Spirit stealth bombers.
Some senior members of the Trump administration have also warned that control passing to China-aligned Mauritius could open the door to espionage at sea.
Ben Judah, David Lammy’s former special adviser when he was foreign secretary, told The Telegraph this year, “This airbase… has super-secret, highly sensitive facilities there which are so important to what Britain is able to do in the world.”
“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.”
The military base at Diego Garcia allows the US Navy to maintain an active presence in the Indian Ocean. With China ramping up efforts to expand its naval power, control of these islands would be of strategic importance to the United States.
“We remain in regular discussions with our British allies as we work together to preserve the viability of Diego Garcia as a regional security platform,” a US official told The Telegraph.
How is the US involved?
The president initially backed Starmer’s plan to transfer the islands, but later moved to block it after the UK leader refused to allow the US to use Diego Garcia for strikes on Iran during the early stages of the conflict.
The UK government had aimed to pass a bill in 2025 to transfer the islands to Mauritius, but the deal cannot be implemented without approval from the United States. In April, the British government put its plan to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands on hold.
Trump has publicly denounced the deal as an act of weakness and “great stupidity” and argued that Starmer is “losing control of this important island”, referring to Diego Garcia, according to The Telegraph.
In an interview with The Telegraph on March 2, Trump said he was “very disappointed” in Starmer for blocking him from using the island to strike Iran.
What is the US plan to get its own deal?
To secure a deal with Mauritius regarding the islands, the US would have to allow Starmer’s plan to proceed — which involves returning sovereignty of the islands and then paying around £35bn ($46.7bn) for a 99-year lease of the military base.
After this deal is finalised, the US can raise a counter-offer and negotiate directly with Mauritius for the islands, according to The Telegraph.
What is Mauritius’ position?
Mauritius has said it will wait until July for Britain to finalise a deal to hand over the Chagos Islands, after the process was put on hold following objections from Trump, Reuters reported.
Following a meeting between Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam and the British delegation on Wednesday, Attorney General Gavin Glover said Mauritius had no clarity on whether the US government would ultimately approve the deal.
“We will give them until the end of July,” Glover said. “We will wait until then, and at that point, the Mauritian government will have to decide the way forward depending on what happens in the United Kingdom.”
What are the Chagos Islands?
The Chagos Islands are an archipelago in the Indian Ocean that were once part of Mauritius when it was a French colony, before both territories were handed to the UK in 1845. Mauritius gained independence in 1968 and has since claimed the Chagos archipelago as its own.
