an act of GREAT STUPIDITY
The promise
Trump attacked Britain's agreement to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. He described the arrangement as a strategic mistake and used it to support his argument that the United States should own Greenland. The dispute mattered because Diego Garcia hosts a joint British-American military base. Supporters of Trump's objection argued that control of strategically important territory should not be surrendered to a potentially less dependable arrangement. Defenders of the agreement pointed to the long-term base lease and the sovereignty dispute, while human-rights advocates emphasized displaced Chagossians' rights. His intervention was also notable because he had previously indicated support for the British arrangement.
