Donald Trump has suggested Britain’s decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is among the reasons he wants to take over Greenland.
The US president, who is travelling to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, made the claim as he ramped up his rhetoric on acquiring the Arctic territory.
Trump fired off a flurry of posts on his Truth Social platform overnight on Tuesday about taking over Greenland, which is a territory of America’s Nato ally, the Kingdom of Denmark.
In one post he described the Chagos deal as an “act of GREAT STUPIDITY”, in an about-turn of his previous attitude to the decision, which he supported last year.
Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands – a small archipelago in the Indian Ocean – is home to a strategically important military base jointly used by the US and the UK.
Britain has paid Mauritius to lease back Diego Garcia and the base for at least 99 years under the terms of the deal.
Trump’s sudden public broadside to Sir Keir Starmer stands in contrast with the calm approach the PM and other European leaders have taken towards the US president in recent weeks over his ambitions to own Greenland.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: “Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ Nato Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital US Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.
“There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness. These are International Powers who only recognise STRENGTH, which is why the United States of America, under my leadership, is now, after only one year, respected like never before.
“The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.”
In another post on Truth Social, Mr Trump shared what appeared to be an AI generated image of he and his vice president JD Vance planting a US flag on a snowy landscape with a signpost that reads “Greenland, US territory, est 2026”.
A further post showed a doctored image of the US president meeting European leaders in the White House, with a map that highlighted the US, Canada and Greenland in the colours of the American flag.
