Trump Now Wants To Own Indian Ocean Islands: Report

The White House is considering a plan for President Trump to buy the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, according to a report that has not been independently confirmed.

The Telegraph reported on Sunday that U.S. officials have begun drafting a proposal to bypass Britain and take direct control of the archipelago. The proposal would put Washington at odds with the UK, which signed a deal last year to transfer sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius. The reported push centers on Diego Garcia, a major Indian Ocean military base used by both the United States and Britain.

The plan, first reported by The Telegraph via Reuters, would mark a sharp turn in the dispute over the Chagos Islands. The UK and Mauritius signed an agreement on May 22, 2025, to transfer sovereignty of the islands, with the dispute set to end once both sides ratified the deal.

But the reported U.S. proposal would cut around London and seek a separate arrangement with Mauritius. According to the report, buying the islands is not the leading option under review at the White House, and no financial offer has been placed on the table.

The idea has reportedly reached Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury secretary, who brought the matter to Trump's attention. Reuters said it could not immediately confirm the Telegraph report, and the UK Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House also did not comment when contacted by The Independent.

Trump has publicly opposed the UK-Mauritius deal for months. In January, he called the transfer an "act of GREAT STUPIDITY" and said China and Russia had noticed the move as an "act of total weakness," citing it as another national security reason the U.S. must acquire Greenland.

In February, he posted on Truth Social that Prime Minister Keir Starmer was "making a big mistake by entering a 100 Year Lease" and urged, "DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!"

The deal later stalled. In April, officials announced that it would not be approved before the end of the parliamentary session, after Trump's criticism of both the UK and the agreement.

The Telegraph also reported that Trump initially supported Starmer's deal, then moved to scuttle it after Starmer refused to let the U.S. use Diego Garcia to carry out strikes on Iran in the opening hours of the war.

Diego Garcia sits at the core of the dispute because of its military value. A UK government spokesperson said the base is "a key strategic military asset for both the UK and the U.S., which has protected our shared security for nearly 60 years," according to Reuters.

Ben Judah, a former special adviser to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, told The Telegraph that the airbase "has super secret, super sensitive facilities there which are so important to what Britain is able to do in the world," adding that Britain "would never be able to replicate" those capabilities on its own.

British officials have pushed back on the idea that Washington could simply buy the islands. Hamish Falconer, the UK minister for the Middle East and North Africa, said in May that there was no scenario in which Washington could purchase them, insisting that the government was "committed to the deal that we have struck."

The report also fits a broader pattern of Trump floating territorial ambitions. The Chagos Islands are the newest entry in a list of territories Trump has eyed, including Canada, Greenland, Mexico, Cuba, and Venezuela.

It is not hard to see why the U.S. wants a firm grip on Diego Garcia. Positioned in the central Indian Ocean, the base offers unmatched reach across the Middle East, East Africa, and South Asia. Its long runway can handle B-52 bombers and heavy cargo aircraft, and its deep-water port supports the U.S. Navy's pre-positioned fleet of supply ships.

The base has been a staging point for every major U.S. military operation in the region since the Gulf War – and as China extends its naval reach across the Indo-Pacific, Washington has little appetite for handing any foothold in those waters to a deal it didn't write.