LONDON — The United Kingdom’s plan to give up a remaining part of its empire is close to the finish line. But first, it has to win over a man who has bigger fish to fry — Donald Trump.
The U.K. has sweetened the terms of a deal to give Mauritius sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam confirmed Tuesday. His country has pushed for control of the Indian Ocean archipelago since it won independence in 1968.
The terms — which have prompted outrage from British conservatives — would keep a strategic military base on one of the islands, Diego Garcia, under U.S.-U.K. control for 99 years in return for billions of pounds of U.K. government funds.
But U.K. government officials believe any agreement is still two to three weeks away at the very least — largely because it is caught up in layers of the U.S. government machine, according to three people with knowledge of U.K.-U.S. discussions, who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic relations.
Officials in London hope to land a deal some time after the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 14-16, where Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy is likely to meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Telegraph reported that Mauritius is pushing for it to be signed on March 12, the anniversary of its independence from the U.K.
Changes to the deep state
Rubio branded the deal “a serious threat to our national security interests” in October, and raised it on his first call with Lammy last week — U.K. government figures had hoped that the backing of the so-called U.S. “deep state” would help see the deal through.
Yet Trump is making sweeping changes to the apparatus of the state itself.
The plan is having to progress through various levels of U.S. government approval, two of the three people said. They added that changes to the National Security Council under Trump — which go beyond the usual turnover of political staffers for a new president — have slowed that process down.
While new U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Waltz has been in contact with his U.K. counterpart Jonathan Powell — the pair spoke about the Chagos deal before Trump’s inauguration — the Associated Press reported on Jan. 22 that about 160 non-political NSC staffers had been told to work from home while the administration tries to align staffing with Trump’s agenda.
The third person added: “It’s not just a question of personnel — it is a question of the structures of the organization. We don’t yet have a clear architecture in place to be able to go through that process and get it re-ratified.”
Then there is the fact that Trump and Rubio — barely into their third week in the new administration — have bigger political issues on their plate. Asked about the Chagos deal on Jan. 25, Trump replied: “It hasn’t been number one on my list, I’ll be honest with you.”
The third person quoted above suggested that incoming U.K. Ambassador to the U.S., former Labour grandee Peter Mandelson, could take on the issue after his arrival in Washington this week. But they added: “The Trump team will be aware that it will be a potential point of leverage — they’re aware that it’s become a political issue for the Starmer government.”
The £9 billion question
Britain’s Labour government announced in October that it would hand sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius. While never setting a date publicly, U.K. officials had initially made efforts to conclude the deal before Trump’s inauguration.
But Mauritius has also complicated the process. Ramgoolam ousted his predecessor in an election weeks after the initial deal was announced, and almost immediately began pushing for more favorable terms.
Britain has since agreed to frontload more of the total sum — widely reported (and not disputed) to be around £9 billion — towards the beginning of the 99-year lease. A call between Ramgoolam and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer last Friday helped secure Mauritius’ agreement.
Ramgoolam told the Mauritian National Assembly Tuesday: “The British prime minister informed me that he intends to push ahead with the agreement … we remain confident that it will reach a speedy resolution in the coming weeks.”
Ramgoolam suggested that frontloading the total sum, and linking it to inflation, could double the amount Britain was due to pay.
British officials disputed this, insisting the overall amount to be paid over 99 years would be the same. But the U.K. government has refused to confirm how much will be handed to Mauritius overall. It’s unclear whether the sum will be revealed when MPs and peers vote to ratify the treaty in parliament — a process that is expected to take months after the three governments agree.
Asked if Downing Street was disputing what the Mauritian parliament had been told, a No. 10 spokesperson said: “I’m not going to get into details of the deal. We’re not going to give a running commentary on it.”
The deal has come under heavy fire from the U.K.’s opposition Conservative Party and Reform U.K., whose leader Nigel Farage is a high-profile ally of Trump.
Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch posted on X on Tuesday: “Starmer’s foolish deal gets worse every minute. He is surrendering British territory and paying for the privilege.”
A White House official, granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak on-record about sensitive diplomatic discussions, said: “The Trump Administration continues to review the British government’s agreement with Mauritius and potential implications for Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia.”
The U.S. State Department declined to comment, referring POLITICO to the British and Mauritian governments.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “Clearly there is a new U.S. administration in place, and … it’s absolutely right that it has the chance to consider the agreement in full.”
Phelim Kine contributed reporting from Washington D.C.
UK waits nervously for Trump to back Chagos Islands deal
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