US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, in New York that he does not support the deal transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, in the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius, calling the agreement “terrible” and “ridiculous,” according to The Guardian.

The remarks came at his first meeting with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where Trump said relations with London were “more up” than with predecessor Keir Starmer and called Burnham “a natural businessperson.” His harshest words were for Chagos: “I don’t support it. I think it’s terrible. It was a terrible deal,” he said, adding that the prime minister is going to be “looking at it,” according to the Jerusalem Post and the Associated Press (AP). Under the agreement, the United Kingdom gives up sovereignty over the archipelago to Mauritius and leases Diego Garcia for 99 years, keeping a joint military base with the United States there; ratification has been stalled since April 2026, when the US administration withdrew its support, and London had refused to let the United States use the base for its first strikes on Iran in February, according to the Press Association.