WASHINGTON, United States, Jan 20, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump accused the United Kingdom on Tuesday of "great stupidity" for a deal to hand the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius.

"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," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

The comments mark a major change of position for Trump, who previously endorsed the deal.

The agreement will see Britain hand back the archipelago to its former colony and pay to lease a key US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island.

Britain kept control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s.

But it evicted thousands of Chagos islanders who have since mounted a series of legal claims for compensation in British courts.

In 2019, the International Court of Justice recommended that Britain hand the archipelago to Mauritius after decades of legal battles.