Trump Slams UK Chagos Islands Deal in First Meeting With PM Burnham

US President Donald Trump criticized Britain's plan to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius during his first face-to-face meeting with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham on September 22, 2026, threatening to inflame tensions between the two leaders. "I don't support it. I think it's terrible. It was a terrible deal," Trump told reporters at a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, calling the arrangement strategically important and "ridiculous." The deal would cede sovereignty over the Indian Ocean territory, which hosts the jointly operated US-UK Diego Garcia airbase, to Mauritius. Trump has withheld support for the transfer, citing US strategic interests, and has also criticized the UK's refusal to assist the US during its war on Iran. The remarks came even as Trump praised Burnham as a "natural business person" he could work with, underscoring the difficult path the Labour leader faces in building a smooth relationship with Washington.