A US official said Washington is in active talks to secure Diego Garcia, while the White House weighs options that include making an offer to Mauritius. The move comes as Britain’s plan to transfer sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago, including the base, continues to collide with US efforts to keep the site in American hands.
The official described Diego Garcia as a vital and indispensable military installation, saying it is of significant importance to US national security. That is why the base has re-emerged now: not as a distant diplomacy issue, but as a live test of whether the United States can preserve a strategic foothold in the Indian Ocean while the sovereignty deal moves ahead.
Last year, Britain agreed to transfer sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius in a deal that would still allow continued British and American use of the facility. That arrangement was meant to square a difficult circle, handing over sovereignty while protecting military access. It is now being strained by Washington’s effort to lock in the base’s future before any handover changes the terms on the ground.
The friction is clear in the gap between what was agreed and what is being sought now. The United States is working with its British allies and remains in regular discussions with them, but the official said Washington is also exploring a possible offer to Mauritius. The size and form of that offer have not been disclosed, leaving the most important part of the plan unresolved: whether money, terms of access, or something else is being prepared to keep Diego Garcia available after sovereignty changes.
Trump had been consistent in his position that Britain should not give away the British Indian Ocean Territory, which includes the joint US-UK military facility on the Diego Garcia atoll. His supporters have described the transfer agreement with Mauritius as a gift to Beijing, sharpening the political stakes around a base that sits at the center of US strategy in the Indian Ocean. For now, the next move rests with the White House, and the real question is whether its talks produce a deal that preserves access without reopening the sovereignty fight.
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