Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 07:50am on 20 Jan 2026,Tuesday International
US President Donald Trump has criticised the UK’s plan to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, calling it “an act of great stupidity”. He made the comments in a post on Truth Social. The deal would see the UK hand over sovereignty while leasing the Diego Garcia military base for 99 years. Trump said the base is vital to US security. He linked the issue to his interest in US control of Greenland. The US administration earlier supported the plan. In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a major achievement. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the lease would cost £101m a year. (PC: BBC)
