President Donald Trump signaled support for a British deal to cede control of the Indian Ocean island chain that hosts a joint US-UK military base, bringing Prime Minister Keir Starmer closer to a hard-fought foreign policy win.
Trump told Starmer at the White House that he was “inclined to go along” with the decision to give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while maintaining control of military facilities on Diego Garcia.
The US president’s support was a crucial question hanging over the agreement, which conservative opposition parties in the UK have criticized as a short-sighted giveaway of territory and a threat to the country’s alliance with the US.
“We’re going to have some discussions about that very soon, and I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well,” Trump said, adding that he still needed to look at the specifics of the agreement.
Trump spoke to reporters from the Oval Office with UK PM Starmer before a joint press conference.
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