U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Britain not to “give away” a key Indian Ocean base, saying America may need it for attacks if Iran refuses to make a deal.
"Should Iran decide not to make a deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
The U.S. president said an attack would potentially be made on the UK and other "friendly countries."
He criticized UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for entering a lease agreement, stating leases are not appropriate for countries and the UK is making a "big mistake."
"Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia, by entering a tenuous, at best, 100 Year Lease," Trump wrote.
He said Britain is losing control of the strategically located Indian Ocean island through "claims of entities never known of before," calling them fictitious in nature. "This land should not be taken away from the U.K. and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our Great Ally."
Trump said America will always be ready, willing and able to fight for Britain but the UK must remain strong "in the face of wokeism, and other problems put before them."
"Do not give away Diego Garcia," he said.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the post by the president "should be taken as the policy of the" Trump administration.
Diego Garcia is the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago and has been used as a joint UK-U.S. military base since the 1970s. A treaty signed in May transfers sovereignty from Britain to Mauritius, with a provision that the military base would remain under British control for at least 99 years.
The warning comes amid escalating U.S.-Iran tensions and a significantly increased American presence in the Middle East as negotiations continue.
Trump nearly authorized another strike in January because of Tehran's crackdown on protesters but backed down after Iran stopped executions of demonstrators.
