Trump backs Burnham but slams 'terrible' Chagos Islands deal

Andy Burnham arrived at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday carrying two contradictory messages from Donald Trump. The newly elected UK prime minister had just finished bilateral talks with the American president, and Trump had made his position unmistakably clear: Burnham was someone he could work with, a natural businessman who understood what needed to be done. But on one specific matter—the UK's proposed handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius—Trump had nothing but contempt. He called the deal "terrible."

The Chagos arrangement, which the previous government had negotiated, would transfer sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius while committing Britain to pay approximately £101 million annually to lease back Diego Garcia, the largest island and home to a joint UK-US military installation. Trump had already withdrawn his support for the agreement in April, effectively pausing it indefinitely. Now, sitting alongside Burnham with cameras trained on them both, he reiterated why: Diego Garcia was strategically vital, particularly for American military operations aimed at Iran. The base could not be surrendered.

Burnham's response was careful. He acknowledged inheriting a complicated situation and said Britain would "work hard" to find a resolution that satisfied all parties—Mauritius, the United States, and Britain itself. He had spoken beforehand with Mauritius's prime minister, Navin Ramgoolal, and during his meeting with Trump he had stressed that safeguarding the base mattered for British security as much as American interests. When asked directly if the deal was dead, Burnham did not concede the point. Instead, he expressed confidence that working with US partners would yield an answer.

The personal chemistry between the two men appeared genuine. Trump told reporters that he and Burnham had spoken multiple times by phone before this meeting, and that the prime minister "gets it." Burnham, for his part, said he had established "a good connection" with Trump and they had deepened it through their discussions on trade, immigration, and other bilateral concerns. Trump added that he saw Britain as a nation of "great patriotism" that was waiting for strong leadership and success—a pointed contrast to the turbulence of recent years under previous administrations.

The warming of UK-US relations under Burnham stood in sharp relief to the deterioration that had occurred earlier in the year. When Sir Keir Starmer was prime minister, he had refused to allow American forces to use British bases for initial strikes on Iran in coordination with Israel. Trump had viewed that refusal as a betrayal. Burnham's arrival seemed to signal a reset, at least in tone and accessibility.

Yet the Chagos impasse remained unresolved. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader and longtime opponent of the deal, posted on social media that "the Chagos deal is dead," suggesting that Trump's opposition had effectively killed it. But Burnham's language left room for negotiation, and the prime minister had also raised the Falkland Islands during his meeting with Trump—another territorial matter where American support could prove decisive. Argentina's president, Javier Milei, had recently intensified pressure on Britain over the islands, warning of economic sanctions against companies operating near Falklands oil fields and declaring in a national address that Argentina needed to "recover" the territory. Trump had hinted weeks earlier that he might not automatically back Britain in a future conflict over the Falklands if the UK did not increase defense spending. Burnham made clear to Trump that Britain would defend the islanders' right to self-determination and remain British, and said the president "very much understood" the British position.

During his UN visit, Burnham had also been pushing a different agenda: artificial intelligence governance. He met with business leaders including Apple's Tim Cook and advocated for a single set of global principles and standards on AI that would unlock its potential while managing risks. Trump, however, had used his own UN address to reject what he called "globalist schemes" to control artificial intelligence. He preferred to "encourage" AI development rather than "rein it in." The philosophical gap between the two leaders on this issue suggested that warmer personal relations might not translate into agreement on every front.