Republican senator falsely accuses Biden and Harris of masterminding Chagos deal to ‘appease’ UN and China | EUROtoday

A Republican senator who’s an in depth ally of President-elect Donald Trump has falsely accused President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of being behind the British authorities’s determination to show over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands — together with the placement of a key navy base — to Mauritius regardless of the deal’s origins underneath the earlier Conservative-led authorities.

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana used time for debate over a trio of Democratic-authored resolutions to chop off sure sorts of arms to Israel to rail towards the settlement that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s authorities reached with Mauritius over the standing of the archipelago in October.

In remarks delivered from the Senate ground, Kennedy — who isn’t associated to the well-known household that has produced a number of Democratic officeholders for the reason that Nineteen Sixties — described the pending settlement as a “crisis” that he was solely not too long ago alerted to.

Kennedy accused Biden and Harris of “giving away” the vital British-American navy base on Diego Garcia, one of many islands that might be turned over to Mauritian authorities as soon as the settlement is accomplished, albeit with a 99-year lease that ensures continued American management of the island.

“Here’s what President Biden is doing and Vice President Harris, they say, we need to … grant independence to the Chagos islands, but not let the people of the Chagos islands run their country. We need to give the Chagos islands back to Mauritius,” he stated.

He additionally claimed the settlement reached by the British authorities at hand over the Chagos Islands is “cell-deep stupid” as a result of the Chagos Islands and Mauritius “don’t have a relationship anymore” and accused each the Labour-led UK authorities and Biden and Harris of supporting the settlement to fulfill bureaucrats on the United Nations.

“The United Nations is saying: ‘United Kingdom, you bad people, give back — give the Chagos Islands back, but not let the Chagos Islands be free. They want to give the Chagos islands back to Mauritius, and President Biden could stop it, and so could Vice President Harris, but they’re for it, all in an effort to curry favor with the people at the United Nations who walk around with their NPR tote bags and their organic broccoli and have great relationships with media, members of media … who they think write history,” he stated.

But the Louisiana Senator failed to say that the Chagos deal, to which the United States isn’t a celebration, is the top results of negotiations which began two years in the past underneath then-foreign secretary James Cleverly. The talks stalled underneath Cleverly’s substitute, Lord David Cameron, however have been revived after Labour took energy within the July 2024 basic election.

Despite the general public report displaying the dearth of American involvement within the talks, Kennedy claimed that the “foreign policy crisis” brought on by the deal was “all because President Biden and Vice President Harris want to appease the United Nations” and urged the incoming Trump administration to name a halt to the method.

“President Trump: Please, pretty please with sugar on top, pick up the phone and call the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and say ‘don’t sign that treaty,’” he stated. “Don’t give away the Chagos islands. Don’t give away America’s military base.”

The cope with Mauritius isn’t resulting from come into place till subsequent yr however has been backed by the outgoing Biden administration. It might be an early flashpoint between Sir Keir’s authorities and the incoming Trump administration, as US authorities sources say Mr Trump is trying to veto the deal, which is about to come back into power after his inauguration in January, over international safety fears.

The Independent has reported that Mr Trump’s transition workforce has requested authorized recommendation from the Pentagon over the settlement after allies of Nigel Farage had pushed Mr Trump’s workforce to analyze the implications of the Chagos Islands deal forward of the US election.

Ahead of an pressing query within the Commons final week, Mr Farage advised The Independent that Mr Trump can be making an attempt to veto the deal. He stated: “It’s happening!”

The controversy provides to tensions between the Labour-led authorities and Mr Trump’s workforce over points together with continued assist for Ukraine, tackling local weather change and a row over alleged election interference in America by the Labour Party. Past tweets by overseas secretary David Lammy calling the president-elect a “neo-Nazi” have additionally induced points.

A US authorities official supply advised The Independent: “Trump has received a UK-sourced briefing on Chagos and has asked the presidential transition team to work with the Pentagon to get legal advice. He has expressed a stance in principle to object to the deal if elected on the advice of the Department of Defense based on their global security posture.”

Mr Trump’s incoming nationwide safety adviser, Florida Representative Mike Waltz, has been extremely important of the deal as nicely.

Recently, Mr Waltz stated: “Should the UK cede control of the Chagos to Mauritius, I have no doubt that China will take advantage of the resulting vacuum.”

Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, has described the deal as “concerning as it would provide an opportunity for communist China to gain valuable intelligence on our naval support facility in Mauritius”.