Donald Trump is reportedly eyeing a bid to purchase the Chagos Islands after shelving his failed plans to buy Greenland. The sovereignty of the British-controlled archipelago in the Indian Ocean has been the subject of ongoing discussion between the UK government and Mauritius, with a deal to cede sovereignty put on hold earlier this year after the US withdrew its support. The islands are home to Diego Garcia, a joint UK-US military base that hosts super-secret facilities in a region under strategic threat from China.

Now, Trump is looking to buy Chagos for the US in an effort to move on from the Greenland deal, which faltered earlier this year in the face of strong opposition from NATO allies. White House officials are drawing up plans for a purchase of the Chagos Islands, involving a strategy to sidestep the UK entirely. One proposal, worked on by the White House and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, involves designating the islands sovereign and no longer a British Indian Ocean Territory, allowing the US to negotiate a direct purchase with Mauritius.

US officials fear that if Mauritius takes control of the archipelago, it could open the door to maritime espionage and compromise the security of the Diego Garcia base. However, it remains unclear whether Mauritius, which has had its sovereignty over the islands recognized by international courts, would entertain an American bid, having previously signed an agreement to lease the islands back to Britain for 99 years before the US backed out of the deal. Experts suggest that an outright purchase of the territory could cost around $20 billion.

This comes amid mounting concern over Chinese and Iranian influence in the Indian Ocean, with the base having been targeted by ballistic missiles fired from Tehran during the recent conflict. In March, one missile suffered an in-flight failure and crashed, while a second missile was successfully shot down by an SM-3 interceptor launched from a US warship.

Discussing the geopolitical significance of Diego Garcia and the Chagos Islands, Ben Judah, David Lammy’s former special advisor when he was foreign secretary, previously stated that understanding the location means understanding the British deep state’s logic to retain access at all costs, noting that the airbase has super-secret, highly sensitive facilities that are vital to what Britain is able to do in the world.