Trump says US retains right to 'militarily secure' Chagos airbase

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Trump says US retains right to 'militarily secure' Chagos airbase

Reuters
Thu, February 5, 2026 at 2:16 PM EST
2 min read

Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he retained the right to "militarily secure" the joint Diego Garcia air base if future arrangements threatened American ​access, following "productive" talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Last month, Trump criticised Britain's ‌2025 deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago - including an island with the joint U.S.-UK Diego Garcia base - ‌as an act of "total weakness" and "great stupidity."

But in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said he understood the deal Starmer made was "the best he could make."

Starmer's 2025 deal transferred sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while keeping Diego Garcia under British control through a 99-year lease ⁠that preserved U.S. operations at the ‌base.

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Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-says-chagos-air-talks-181343727.html

[Irish_Dem]

1. Trump believes he has the right to use the US military in any way he wants.

It is his army.