Trump’s Chagos criticism pushes UK to review deal

The UK has announced plans to review Chagos Islands after President Donald Trump’s latest criticism, calling it a “terrible deal.”

In a recent development, the Britain defense secretary confirmed the Chagos deal is being reviewed. Wes Streeting said "we have to" review the deal "because the United States doesn't support it".

"What President Trump said yesterday wasn't new but I think it does provide absolute clarity that his position on this Chagos deal as currently drafted is not changing," he told BBC Breakfast.

"So we have to do more work with our American allies, with President Trump and his administration, to get the deal to a place where we can support it."

According to the original agreement the UK would cede sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius. They will also pay $136 million annually to lease back a joint UK-US military base due to its strategic importance in the Indian Ocean.

In April, the deal suffered a setback and halted for an indefinite period as Trump refused to back it.

The decision to review the deal stems from President Trump strongly criticising the UK's deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, home to the Diego Garcia military base, to Mauritius, calling it a "terrible deal."

Britain PM Andy Burnham indicated he would look at the agreement again, stating they need to find a resolution that safeguards the base. During a meeting with Trump at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Burnham also raised the Falklands sovereignty issue with the president.

Despite having differences over policies, Trump praised the relationship with the PM and called Burnham a “natural business person.”