Trump expected to approve Starmer’s Chagos deal

 Donald Trump is expected to approve Sir Keir Starmer’s Chagos deal after the Prime Minister offered him extra security guarantees.

The US president is understood to have changed his mind after intense lobbying from British officials and members of the American intelligence community and new pledges to protect the US military base there.

Ministers have said that Britain’s deal to give away the Chagos Islands to Mauritius could only go ahead with Mr Trump’s support, because they are home to Diego Garcia, a joint US-UK military base.

The deal will entail Britain giving away the islands and leasing back the military base at a cost of around £35bn in cash terms over the next 99 years.

Sir Keir has argued that without a legal agreement to transfer sovereignty from Britain to Mauritius, the operation of the military base was vulnerable to legal challenges.

But critics say that giving away the British Overseas Territory amounts to “surrender”, and argue that the military base will fall under the influence of China, one of Mauritius’s allies.

After taking office last year, Mr Trump was initially persuaded by Labour’s argument in favour of the deal and indicated during Sir Keir’s first visit to Washington that he was likely to approve it.

However, he reversed his position last month after a public disagreement with Nato allies over his plan to take control of Greenland.

He wrote on his Truth Social platform on Jan 20 that Britain was “planning to give away [...] the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, [...] FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER”.

He added: “The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY.”

The sudden change in his position caused panic in Whitehall, where British officials launched a diplomatic push to convince Mr Trump to resume his support for the deal.

The talks have involved Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, officials from the Foreign Office, 10 Downing Street, the US department of state, the White House and the American intelligence agencies.

John Healey, the Defence Secretary, is understood to have spoken to Pete Hegseth, his opposite number in Washington, in the past few days.

The negotiations concluded on Tuesday evening with a call between Sir Keir and Mr Trump, in which they praised the “strategic importance” of Diego Garcia and agreed to “continue working closely to guarantee the future operation of the base”, according to a Downing Street spokesman.

The Telegraph understands that Mr Trump is expected to give final approval in a second call on Wednesday evening.

Sources stressed that the deal would not be approved until the US president gave his verbal consent.

Mr Trump has a reputation for changing his position or extending negotiations at the final moment. Downing Street sources said the timeline for the call could change.

During the negotiations, the Trump administration has demanded new security guarantees that will protect the base from Chinese interference.

The guarantees are designed to allay concerns from some US officials, including some members of Marco Rubio’s team.

Mr Rubio, the secretary of state, has previously criticised the deal and has commissioned his department’s lawyers to examine the legal case for it presented by the UK.

Further security measures will also give Mr Trump an “off ramp” to change his mind without losing face to China hawks in his administration and on Capitol Hill.

It is unclear whether any additions to the deal will require approval from Mauritius, which signed off the current version of the agreement with the UK after months of negotiations last year.

US officials have recently visited Mauritius and may have used talks with the government there to arrange for further security guarantees.