❓WHAT HAPPENED: U.S. President Donald J. Trump issued a statement opposing the decision by British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to transfer the British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Islands), which hosts a strategic British-American military base, to Mauritius—contradicting the U.S. State Department, which said on Tuesday that the U.S. supports the transfer.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: U.S. President Donald J. Trump, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and the State Department.

📍WHEN & WHERE: February 18, 2026, concerning the Chagos Islands, in particular Diego Garcia.

💬KEY QUOTE: “DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!” – Donald J. Trump

🎯IMPACT: The statement highlights strain between the White House and State Department officials on foreign policy, as well as the British government.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump has reiterated his strong opposition to British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to transfer the British Indian Ocean Territory, or Chagos Islands, to Mauritius, an ally of China. The Chagos Islands include Diego Garcia, which hosts a strategic British-American military base, which Starmer intends to lease back from Mauritius at considerable expense. Notably, Trump’s belief that the security provided by such a lease is too “tenuous” directly contradicts the U.S. State Department, which claimed on Tuesday that “The United States supports the decision of the United Kingdom to proceed with its agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago.”

Following reporting by The National Pulse on the State Department statement, President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “I have been telling Prime Minister Keir Starmer, of the United Kingdom, that Leases are no good when it comes to Countries, and that he is making a big mistake by entering a 100 Year Lease with whoever it is that is ‘claiming’ Right, Title, and Interest to Diego Garcia, strategically located in the Indian Ocean.”

“Our relationship with the United Kingdom is a strong and powerful one, and it has been for many years, but Prime Minister Starmer is losing control of this important Island by claims of entities never known of before… Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia, by entering a tenuous, at best, 100 Year Lease. 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 continued, adding: “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!”

Subsequently, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump’s post is the official U.S. position on the Chagos deal, implicitly rebuking the State Department.

Even if Mauritius honoured the Diego Garcia lease, it could undermine the base by leasing one of the other Chagos Islands nearby to China or another U.S. adversary. Trump’s reference to “Wokeism” motivating the transfer may be connected to the fact that Starmer’s negotiator, Attorney General Richard Hermer, despises the “racist” British Empire, of which Chagos is a remnant.

An ideological commitment to “anti-imperialism” by Starmer and his officials is one of the only explanations for the lopsided terms of the Chagos deal, which will see Britain transfer sovereignty of the islands to a foreign state and pay for the privilege. Mauritius is over a thousand miles from Chagos, and the islands have no Mauritian population. The Chagossians, displaced when the Diego Garcia base was established, are near-universally opposed to the islands being transferred to Mauritius.

Notably, Attorney General Hermer worked alongside Philippe Sands, a British lawyer helping Mauritius advance its claims to Chagos, for ten years, with Sands also being a personal friend of Starmer, hinting at possible collusion in arranging the islands’ surrender on terms unfavorable to Britain.

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