Donald Trump has said Sir Keir Starmer is “making a big mistake” with the Chagos Islands deal.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president warned against the loss of the US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, which the UK is retaining through a 99-year lease of the island.

Trump wrote: “Our relationship with the United Kingdom is a strong and powerful one, and it has been for many years, but prime minister Starmer is losing control of this important Island by claims of entities never known of before.

“In our opinion, they are fictitious in nature.”

He went on to say that if Iran does not make a peace deal with the US, “it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia”, as well as RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, to “eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime – An attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly Countries”.

“Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia, by entering a tenuous, at best, 100 Year Lease,” Mr Trump continued.

“This land should not be taken away from the U.K. and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our Great Ally. We will always be ready, willing, and able to fight for the U.K., but they have to remain strong in the face of Wokeism, and other problems put before them.

“DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!”

The Chagos Islands are an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, with the island of Diego Garcia home to a joint UK-US military base.

The islands are an overseas territory of the UK, but after the UK lost a court case over the sovereignty of the islands, the government agreed to cede the islands to Mauritius.