Trump reportedly considers buying Chagos Islands from Mauritius

Potential proposal would secure control of Diego Garcia base amid stalled UK plans to cede sovereignty of territory

Donald Trump is reportedly weighing a plan to buy the Chagos Islands from Mauritius amid stalled plans from the UK to cede sovereignty of the territory, the Telegraph first reported .

The White House did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment on the report about the potential plan.

Under the reported proposal, the Trump administration would sidestep UK officials and purchase the island, securing control of the US-UK Diego Garcia military base.

The island, however, would first have to be made sovereign, allowing the US to negotiate its purchase with Mauritius directly, the Telegraph reported. Previous legislation to hand the islands to Mauritius were shelved in April after the US removed its support of the deal.

Purchasing the islands is one of several proposals being considered by the US, the Telegraph reported. The latest plan was put forth by US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and brought to Trump, though it allegedly is not a leading option. Some officials in the Trump administration were concerned about giving the island to Mauritius, an ally of China, opening up the possibility of espionage, the Telegraph reported.

Discussions for the US to potentially purchase the Chagos Islands come amid the US-Israel war with Iran that has been ongoing since the end of February. The Diego Garcia base, located in the central Indian Ocean, is about 2,360 miles (3,800km) from Iran and includes an airbase that can handle US long-range missiles.

Since the war there began, Iran has already launched multiple strikes on the joint base. One such strike in late March was struck down by a US warship.

In March, the UK gave the US permission to launch missiles striking Iranian missile launchers from the joint base as the war continues.

Trump previously condemned the move as “very late” and argued that UK officials should have approved the decision sooner.

In a social media post, Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, warned Keir Starmer that he was “putting British lives at risk by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran”.