𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲’𝐬 "𝐍𝐘𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬": ‘𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙝𝙖𝙢 𝙖𝙨 ‘𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝘽𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣’
“The prime minister largely skipped over issues that could be contentious, like trade and the ownership of the Chagos Islands, a disputed archipelago in the Indian Ocean where the U.S. and the U.K. have a joint military base. In 2024, Britain agreed a deal under which Mauritius would gain sovereignty over the chain of islands, while the United States and Britain would continue to use the military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island, with Britain leasing the base for an initial period of 99 years. That deal was put on hold in April following criticism from President Trump, which he reiterated on Tuesday.
“It was a terrible deal. Somebody has ownership that never showed up before after decades and centuries. I think it’s ridiculous,” he said.
Mr. Burnham, eager not to engage the president on the issue, did not respond.
𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲'𝐬 "𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧":
"𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒎 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒔 𝑰𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒔 '𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆'"
But the meeting appeared to have gone to plan for both sides, with Trump praising the UK, saying: “I think you’re up. Well, they’re more now than they were with your last prime minister, let me put it that way.”
He added: “I think right now, based on my relationship with your prime minister, Andy, I think we’re doing very well.”
However, Trump was scathing about the UK’s deal to give away sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while paying for a lease of the military base of Diego Garcia.
Asked about the deal, he said: “I don’t support it. I think it’s terrible. It was a terrible deal. They [Mauritius] all of a sudden say they have ownership. Somebody has ownership that never showed up before after decades and centuries. I think it’s ridiculous.
“No, we were talking about that, and [the islands are] strategically very important. Very important. You know, we had to send our B-2 bombers … back home to Missouri, as opposed to flying for a short period of time.
𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭.”
𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 "𝑫𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝑻𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉":
"𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒎 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒐𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒔"
Prime Minister agrees to review the island deal after president labels it "terrible".
𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕":
"𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒎 – 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒕 ‘𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆’ 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍"
Mr Trump branded the agreement to hand sovereignty of the Indian Ocean islands to Mauritius as a “terrible deal”, and said that the prime minister was “going to be looking at it”.
Mr Burnham paused before adding “yep” in response.
𝑳𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒓 𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒎 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅.
Asked by the BBC, he dodged the question, saying it was an agreement he had inherited “and we need a resolution”.
