Most Americans may not be familiar with the Chagos Islands, but they play a crucial role in U.S. national security. This remote Indian Ocean archipelago, which includes Diego Garcia, hosts one of the most strategically important American military bases in the world. The base has been a linchpin of U.S. military operations for decades, providing logistical support for missions in the Middle East, countering China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific, and serving as a critical hub for intelligence and surveillance.

Despite its strategic significance, the United Kingdom, under the leadership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is preparing to hand over the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. This decision is not based on security concerns or practical governance but on a misguided sense of legalism and postcolonial revisionism. The U.K. is willing to cede control despite the islands having little historical or cultural connection to Mauritius, which lies 1,400 miles away.

Under the proposed deal, Britain would cede sovereignty while paying Mauritius 9 billion pounds over 99 years to lease back Diego Garcia, the key U.S. naval base in the region. The negotiations are being led by Starmer’s attorney general, Lord Richard Hermer, who has previously stated that “almost every element” of the British Empire was racist and has actively advocated reparations to be paid to those who were “victims” of the empire. This latest arrangement from Hermer is not only an unprecedented act of strategic self-sabotage by the U.K. but also a direct threat to U.S. interests in the region.

Now back in office, President Donald Trump must urgently intervene to prevent this reckless handover, a move that would deal a devastating blow to U.S. national security and ultimately play into the hands of China.

China has a well-documented track record of leveraging debt and infrastructure projects to entrench its influence across the developing world. From Sri Lanka’s Hambantota Port to military installations in Djibouti, Beijing has perfected the art of turning economic partnerships into strategic footholds. Once Mauritius takes control of the Chagos Islands, it is only a matter of time before China offers lucrative investment deals in exchange for naval access. Given Mauritius’s economic dependence on China, resistance to such overtures would be difficult.

For Washington, the consequences of a Chinese presence in Diego Garcia would be catastrophic. The island has been crucial to America’s power projection in the Indo-Pacific and serves as a counterweight to China’s growing military assertiveness. Allowing China to establish even a minimal footprint in the Chagos archipelago would dramatically shift the balance of power in the region and weaken U.S. deterrence.

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Trump must make it clear to the U.K. that this deal is unacceptable. The U.S. should leverage its diplomatic and economic influence to halt the transfer, emphasizing that British participation in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance and other key defense agreements depends on London’s commitment to shared security interests. If necessary, Washington must also be prepared to negotiate a direct long-term lease with Mauritius, ensuring ironclad restrictions on any Chinese involvement.

This is not a matter of decolonization or historical redress. It is a matter of strategic survival. The Chagos Islands are too important to be sacrificed on the altar of postcolonial revisionism. If Starmer’s government insists on this folly, Trump must step in and put an end to it before it is too late.

Azeem Ibrahim, Ph.D., is an officer of the Order of the British Empire, a senior director at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy, and the author of Authoritarian Century: Omens of a Post-Liberal Order.