A Republican senator who is a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump has falsely accused President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of being behind the British government’s decision to turn over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands — including the location of a key military base — to Mauritius despite the deal’s origins under the previous Conservative-led government.
Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana used time for debate over a trio of Democratic-authored resolutions to cut off certain kinds of arms to Israel to rail against the agreement that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government reached with Mauritius over the status of the archipelago in October.
In remarks delivered from the Senate floor, Kennedy — who is not related to the famous family that has produced multiple Democratic officeholders since the 1960s — described the pending agreement as a “crisis” that he was only recently alerted to.
Kennedy accused Biden and Harris of “giving away” the important British-American military base on Diego Garcia, one of the islands that will be turned over to Mauritian authorities once the agreement is completed, albeit with a 99-year lease that guarantees continued American control of the island.
“Here’s what President Biden is doing and Vice President Harris, they say, we need to ... grant independence to the Chagos islands, but not let the people of the Chagos islands run their country. We need to give the Chagos islands back to Mauritius,” he said.
He also claimed the agreement reached by the British government to hand over the Chagos Islands is “cell-deep stupid” because the Chagos Islands and Mauritius “don’t have a relationship anymore” and accused both the Labour-led UK government and Biden and Harris of supporting the agreement to satisfy bureaucrats at the United Nations.
“The United Nations is saying: ‘United Kingdom, you bad people, give back — give the Chagos Islands back, but not let the Chagos Islands be free. They want to give the Chagos islands back to Mauritius, and President Biden could stop it, and so could Vice President Harris, but they’re for it, all in an effort to curry favor with the people at the United Nations who walk around with their NPR tote bags and their organic broccoli and have great relationships with media, members of media ... who they think write history,” he said.
But the Louisiana Senator failed to mention that the Chagos deal, to which the United States is not a party, is the end result of negotiations which started two years ago under then-foreign secretary James Cleverly. The talks stalled under Cleverly’s replacement, Lord David Cameron, but were revived after Labour took power in the July 2024 general election.
Despite the public record showing the lack of American involvement in the talks, Kennedy claimed that the “foreign policy crisis” caused by the deal was “all because President Biden and Vice President Harris want to appease the United Nations” and urged the incoming Trump administration to call a halt to the process.
“President Trump: Please, pretty please with sugar on top, pick up the phone and call the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and say ‘don’t sign that treaty,’” he said. “Don’t give away the Chagos islands. Don’t give away America’s military base.”
The deal with Mauritius is not due to come into place until next year but has been backed by the outgoing Biden administration. It could be an early flashpoint between Sir Keir’s government and the incoming Trump administration, as US government sources say Mr Trump is looking to veto the deal, which is set to come into force after his inauguration in January, over global security fears.
The Independent has reported that Mr Trump’s transition team has requested legal advice from the Pentagon over the agreement after allies of Nigel Farage had pushed Mr Trump’s team to investigate the consequences of the Chagos Islands deal ahead of the US election.
Ahead of an urgent question in the Commons last week, Mr Farage told The Independent that Mr Trump would be attempting to veto the deal. He said: “It’s happening!”
The controversy adds to tensions between the Labour-led government and Mr Trump’s team over issues including continued support for Ukraine, tackling climate change and a row over alleged election interference in America by the Labour Party. Past tweets by foreign secretary David Lammy calling the president-elect a “neo-Nazi” have also caused issues.
A US government official source told The Independent: “Trump has received a UK-sourced briefing on Chagos and has asked the presidential transition team to work with the Pentagon to get legal advice. He has expressed a stance in principle to object to the deal if elected on the advice of the Department of Defense based on their global security posture.”
Mr Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Florida Representative Mike Waltz, has been highly critical of the deal as well.
Recently, Mr Waltz said: “Should the UK cede control of the Chagos to Mauritius, I have no doubt that China will take advantage of the resulting vacuum.”
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, has described the deal as “concerning as it would provide an opportunity for communist China to gain valuable intelligence on our naval support facility in Mauritius”.
