U.K Prime Minister Andy Burnham was forced to look on stony-faced as the US President rounded on the ‘terrible deal’ to hand sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius.
Now Andy Burnham is reviewing Labour’s Chagos deal after incurring Donald Trump’s wrath during their first meeting last night.
Trump said the PM had failed to change his mind, saying: ‘I don’t support it. I think it’s terrible. It was a terrible deal.
‘They [Mauritius] all of a sudden say they have ownership. Somebody has ownership that never showed up before after decades and centuries. I think it’s ridiculous.
‘No, we were talking about that, and [the islands are] strategically very important. Very important. You know, we had to send our B2 bombers… back home to Missouri [after a bombing raid on Iran], as opposed to flying for a short period of time.’It’s amazing how strategic it is, and I think the Prime Minister is going to be looking at it.’
When asked about Trump’s statements, Burnham said he had ‘inherited the situation and we need a resolution’, adding: ‘It’s critical to safeguard the future of the base, and that matters to us for security reasons, but also clearly to the United States as well.’
The PM risked a further backlash from Washington by opening the door to fighting the next election on a pledge to rejoin the European Union.
Burnham also suggested that the 2016 referendum result had been manipulated by ‘outside forces’.
In the past, President Trump has described himself as ‘Mr Brexit’ and has singled out the EU for tougher trade tariffs.
Government sources voiced relief that Mr Burnham’s first face-to-face meeting with his volatile counterpart, at the UN General Assembly in New York, had not descended into the kind of slanging match seen with other world leaders.
But the PM was forced to sit and watch as Mr Trump savaged the deal to hand the Chagos Islands to China ally Mauritius – and pay £35billion for the privilege.
