By The White House is looking to buy an island, and it’s not the one you’re thinking. The Trump administration is considering an extraordinary proposal to purchase the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, a move that would bypass Britain and give the United States more direct control over one of its most strategically important military outposts.
The plan, according to The Guardian, is one of several options under review as the White House searches for a long-term solution to protect the joint U.S.-British military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the remote Indian Ocean archipelago.
U.S. officials have been in regular discussions with the British government over the future of the base, according to the report. The purchase proposal was reportedly raised with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who later brought it to President Donald Trump.
The idea is not believed to be the administration’s leading option, and no purchase price has been publicly discussed. But its consideration underscores Washington’s growing concern over Britain’s stalled plan to transfer sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius.
A U.S. official said Washington and London were working together “to preserve the viability of Diego Garcia as a regional security platform.”
Diego Garcia has served as a critical hub for American military operations for decades. The isolated base includes a major airfield capable of supporting long-range bombers, extensive fuel storage facilities and a deep-water port. Its location near the center of the Indian Ocean gives the United States a secure launch point for missions across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The base played important roles during the Persian Gulf War, the war in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. Its strategic importance has only grown as the United States confronts renewed threats from Iran and an expanding Chinese naval presence in the Indo-Pacific.
Britain signed an agreement with Mauritius in May 2025 that would transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands while allowing the United Kingdom and the United States to continue operating the Diego Garcia base under a 99-year lease. The arrangement was expected to cost Britain an average of roughly £101 million annually.
Trump initially allowed the agreement to move forward but later turned sharply against it, calling Britain’s decision to surrender the islands an “act of GREAT STUPIDITY” and an “act of total weakness.”
The British government placed the deal on hold in April after the Trump administration withdrew its support. The agreement also requires changes to the longstanding U.S.-British framework governing the military base, giving Washington considerable influence over whether the transfer can proceed.
Mauritius has claimed the islands for decades, arguing that Britain improperly separated the archipelago from its former colony before Mauritian independence in 1968. International courts and the United Nations have backed Mauritius’s claim.
For the Trump administration, however, the immediate question is how to prevent uncertainty over sovereignty from jeopardizing an irreplaceable military asset. A direct American purchase would represent the most dramatic option yet, and another sign that Trump is increasingly willing to consider territorial acquisitions when he believes U.S. national security is at stake.
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