£101m a year for 99 years: the Chagos bill Trump calls terrible

Donald Trump has branded the agreement to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius a "terrible deal", saying so while sitting feet away from Andy Burnham at their first face to face meeting. The Prime Minister, seated next to him, agreed that he was "going to look at it" and said "yeah". The exchange came during a 40 minute meeting in New York, where Mr Burnham was attending the United Nations General Assembly.

The deal itself was struck when Sir Keir Starmer was in No 10 last year, and it would end more than two centuries of British control over the Indian Ocean territory. Under the plans, sovereignty passes to Mauritius while the UK keeps a 99 year lease over Diego Garcia, the largest island, and the joint US and UK military base sited there.

The part that matters to anyone paying tax is the rent. According to the terms, Britain would pay £101million every year for 99 years to lease back a base it already ran. That comes to £34billion in nominal terms. Opponents of the deal have argued the real figure could be closer to £50billion once the full life of the lease is accounted for.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, President Trump said: "I don't support it. I think it's terrible. It was a terrible deal. They all of a sudden say they have ownership." He added that the islands were "strategically very important", noting that American B2 bombers had to be sent back to Missouri rather than flying a short hop from Diego Garcia. The base is currently being used to refuel and service fighter jets striking Iran.

The shift in tone was sharp. Only hours earlier, en route to New York, Mr Burnham had insisted he was "determined" to find a resolution allowing the agreement to proceed despite American opposition, and said he would do "everything possible" to get there.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted on X shortly after the President spoke: "The Chagos deal is dead. Thank God." Reform's shadow Chancellor Robert Jenrick said the deal "appears dead in the water" and argued that the billions earmarked for Mauritius "must urgently be directed to our armed forces".

Nothing is settled. The legislation required to implement the agreement was paused back in April because of opposition from Washington, and it has not moved since. Senior Tories have also warned that the handover has fanned the flames around Argentinian President Javier Milei's attempt to claim the Falklands.

For households, the arithmetic is blunt. A sum of £101million a year of public money would be spent renting a military base Britain already controlled, for the next 99 years, at a time when families are repeatedly told there is nothing spare for anything else. Whether that bill is ever paid now appears to rest less on what ministers in London decide and more on what the White House will tolerate.