Trump: ‘I Retain the Right’ to Use Military to Secure Diego Garcia Island
Trump said the U.S. has the right to use the military to secure a joint U.K.-U.S. base on an island in the Indian Ocean.
“Let it be known that I will never allow our presence on a Base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense,” he wrote on social media on Thursday.
The future of the base, situated on a remote archipelago in the British Indian Ocean Territory, has been the subject of debate in recent years. The base has been critical to U.S. operations in the Middle East for decades, but the British government has moved forward with a deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands archipelago to Mauritius, then lease back the base.
Trump, in his social-media post, appeared to signal that he wouldn’t take immediate action. But he reserved the right to use the military in the future if needed.
“If the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers U.S. operations and forces at our Base, I retain the right to Militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to the island where the base is located.
Trump said he had “productive discussions” with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the island.
Whatever that means....
“Let it be known that I will never allow our presence on a Base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense,” he wrote on social media on Thursday.
The future of the base, situated on a remote archipelago in the British Indian Ocean Territory, has been the subject of debate in recent years. The base has been critical to U.S. operations in the Middle East for decades, but the British government has moved forward with a deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands archipelago to Mauritius, then lease back the base.
Trump, in his social-media post, appeared to signal that he wouldn’t take immediate action. But he reserved the right to use the military in the future if needed.
“If the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers U.S. operations and forces at our Base, I retain the right to Militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to the island where the base is located.
Trump said he had “productive discussions” with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the island.
Whatever that means....
