BY TYLER DURDEN
AUTHORED…
Authored by Evgenia Filimianova via The Epoch Times,
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 5 he retained the right to “militarily secure” the U.S.–UK Diego Garcia air base in the Chagos Islands, if future arrangements threatened American access.
Trump said in a Feb. 5 post on Truth Social that he held “productive discussions” with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the issue.
“I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, the best he could make,” he said. “However, if the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers U.S. operations and forces at our base, I retain the right to militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia.”
The base is regarded by the United States as a critical hub for operations across the Middle East, East Africa, and the Indo-Pacific.
Trump cited its strategic location and “great importance” to the U.S. national security.
“We have the most powerful Military in the World. Our Military Operations, over the course of the last year, were successful because of the strength of our warfighters, modern capability of our equipment and, very importantly, the strategic location of our Military Bases for staging, and other reasons,” he said. “Let it be known that I will never allow our presence on a Base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense.”
A Downing Street spokesperson said in a Feb. 5 statement that Starmer and Trump “agreed on the importance of the deal to secure the joint UK-U.S. base on Diego Garcia, which remains vital to shared security interests.”
Source:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-retains-right-militarily-secure-chagos-air-base-trump-says