MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump interested in buying Chagos Islands with the strategic Diego Garcia air base

Previous legislation to hand the islands to Mauritius was shelved in April after the US removed its support of the deal.

The US president Donald Trump is considering a plan to buy the Chagos Islands from Mauritius amid stalled plans from the UK to cede sovereignty of the territory, the Telegraph reported over the weekend.

Under the reported proposal, the Trump administration would sidestep UK officials and purchase the island, securing control of the US-UK Diego Garcia military base.

The island, however, would first have to be made sovereign, allowing the US to negotiate its purchase with Mauritius directly, the Telegraph reported. Previous legislation to hand the islands to Mauritius was shelved in April after the US removed its support of the deal.

Purchasing the islands is one of several proposals being considered by the US, the Telegraph reported. The latest plan was put forth by US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and brought to Trump, though it allegedly is not a leading option. Some officials in the Trump administration were concerned about giving the island to Mauritius, an ally of China, opening up the possibility of espionage, the Telegraph reported.

A delegation of Chagos refugees visiting the UK last week said the issue had been “hijacked within the halls” of UK politics.

The six-person contingent from the Chagos Refugees Group expressed their full support for the UK to conclude an agreement on the future of the islands. “The most important is our rights,” Louis Olivier Bancoult, the delegation leader, said on Friday.

“There is not a real will for the British government to find a solution for our people. We need to find a way,” he added. “We’re still suffering and our position is clear, we have the right to live in our birthplace.”

Diego Garcia is 3,800km from Iran and includes an airbase that can handle US long-range missiles. Since the war with Iran began, Teheran has already launched multiple strikes on the joint base