[Pages S1335-S1336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Mauritius and Chagos Islands

  Mr. President, I want to spend 5 minutes talking about another 
subject because President Trump tomorrow has a very important meeting 
with Prime Minister Starmer of the United Kingdom.
  This is the Indian Ocean. You have heard me talk about this. A group 
of islands right here are the Chagos Islands. This is China over here. 
Down here is another group of islands called Mauritius that I will talk 
about in a second.
  Why do I talk about the Chagos Islands? Well, from 1715 to 1810, the 
Chagos Islands were owned by France. In 1814, France gave the Chagos 
Islands to the United Kingdom. At the time, the United Kingdom--after 
France gave the islands to them--not only owned the Chagos Islands, but 
the United Kingdom also owned Mauritius.
  The United Kingdom administered both the Chagos Islands and Mauritius 
from headquarters in Mauritius. Mauritius never owned the Chagos 
Islands--never. They were always owned either by France or by the 
United Kingdom, which owns them today. The only connection Mauritius 
had with the Chagos Islands was that the United Kingdom owned both at 
the same time and administered the two groups of islands from 
headquarters in Mauritius.
  After the United Kingdom acquired the Chagos Islands here, the United 
States of America built one of the most important military bases in the 
world on one of the islands called the Diego Garcia--hugely important. 
The United Kingdom helped, but we put up most of the money.
  Now, Mr. Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has 
decided that he wants to give the Chagos Islands, with our military 
base, to Mauritius. He wants to give it to them.
  We said: Wait a minute. We have a military base here. What about our 
military base?
  Mr. Starmer says: Well, I am going to give all of the islands, 
including the military base, to Mauritius--even though Mauritius never 
owned them.
  Now that Mauritius owns them, we are going to pay Mauritius $9 
billion over time--I want to be fair, over time--for a military base 
that we built. What? Why? Well, I will tell you why. Prime Minister 
Starmer feels guilty because the United Nations--actually, it is not 
the United Nations; rather, a group called the International Court of 
Justice, which is loosely affiliated with the United Nations, issued a 
ruling that criticized the United Kingdom for actually owning the 
Chagos Islands.
  They said: United Kingdom, you are an anti-colonialist. You should 
feel guilty, you should feel bad, and you need give the Chagos Islands 
away. You need to give them to Mauritius even though Mauritius never 
owned them.
  That is what is going on. That is all that is going on.
  Now, how did this get started? The Prime Minister of Mauritius--his 
name was Prime Minister Jugnauth--sued in the International Court of 
Justice--he sued the United Kingdom. He said: Give me Mauritius and the 
military base.
  He filed a lawsuit. The International Court of Justice, based in the 
Netherlands, issued a ruling in Mauritius's favor. It is an advisory 
opinion. It is not binding on anybody. But Mr. Jugnauth got what he 
wanted on behalf of Mauritius.
  A few weeks later, Prime Minister Jugnauth got beat, and he was 
replaced by a new Prime Minister, whose name is Prime Minister 
Ramgoolam. Prime Minister Ramgoolam said: Not only do I want the 
Mauritius Islands, you are not paying us enough, United Kingdom and 
America.
  According to news reports, he wants not only <brit-pound>9 billion, 
he wants <brit-pound>18 billion for our own military base.
  He said: We will lease you the base that you built, which we, 
Mauritius, now own, back to you, but you have to give us between $9 and 
$18 billion.
  Isn't that special? Isn't that special? That is what is going on.
  Now, there is one other thing you need to know. Mauritius is very 
close to China. Mauritius has a very lucrative trade agreement with 
China, and you might be surprised to learn that after all of this has 
been developing, China all of a sudden is Mauritius's best friend. Do 
you know why? Because if Prime Minister Starmer does this, Mauritius is 
going to own the base. They are going to own the base.
  Now, Prime Minister Starmer is going to meet with President Trump 
tomorrow to try to talk President Trump into agreeing to this. The 
Prime Minister of the U.K. has already said: If President Trump is not 
comfortable with me giving away an American military base--I want to 
giggle when I say that--if President Trump is not comfortable, I won't 
do it.

  Here is what the Prime Minister is going to tell President Trump 
tomorrow. He is going to say, No. 1: Mr. President, we need to do this 
because it is the right thing to do.
  The United Nations' International Court of Justice, which is 
comprised of

[[Page S1336]]

a bunch of weeny wokers, has issued an advisory opinion saying that we 
and the United Kingdom should feel guilty because we used to own 
Colonies.
  Prime Minister Starmer is going to say: Mr. President, we need to 
give these islands away and your military base, Mr. President, because 
it is the right thing to do.
  The second thing he is going to tell the President is that if we 
don't do it, China is going to get really mad. He is going to say: 
China is going to get really mad if we don't do this.
  The third thing he is going to tell the President is that if we don't 
do this, the United Nations could cut off the telecommunications for 
our military base--like the United Nations is going to all a sudden, 
out of the blue, cut off the spectrum and the telecommunications for an 
American military base. They have no jurisdiction to do that, and they 
also don't have the oranges to do that.
  There is one other thing I want to mention. I didn't mean to go on 
this long, but this is an important meeting the President is having. 
Remember I told you about the Prime Minister who started all this, 
Prime Minister Jugnauth? He got beat--you will recall me saying it--in 
2024.
  A few weeks ago, former Prime Minister Jugnauth was arrested. He was 
arrested for money laundering. The Mauritius authorities searched his 
house and the home of one of his closest associates, and do you know 
what they found? They found $25 million in cash in various currencies. 
They found Rolex watches, they found Cartier watches, and they found 
United Kingdom visas. I am not saying that they are connected, but it 
is mighty interesting.
  Here is what one of the generals who formerly worked for President 
Trump has said about this deal that stinks to high heavens--GEN Herbert 
McMaster:

       Mr. President, it would put us, the United States, at a 
     significant strategic disadvantage, especially at a time when 
     China is trying to gain control of critical terrain and 
     chokepoints around the world in this effort to create new 
     spheres of influence.

  So to President Trump, my President, tonight I say: Don't do it, Mr. 
President. Please don't do it. I don't care what Prime Minister Starmer 
promises you. The only reason he is doing this is because he feels 
guilty because the United Nations has said that the United Kingdom 
should be ashamed of its history and ashamed that it at one time owned 
Colonies.
  People of the United Kingdom can feel what they want. That is none of 
my business. But we have an American military base there, and it is 
very important to defend the Indian Ocean against China.
  Please, Mr. President--please, President Trump--don't let Prime 
Minister Starmer talk you into giving away an American military base 
that we need to combat China to another country that never owned it 
just because Prime Minister Starmer feels guilty.
  I am sorry he feels guilty. He needs to go buy an emotional support 
pony. But he doesn't need to give away an American military base.
  Mr. Trump, President Trump, please don't agree to this.
  That is it. I am out of gas. My work here is done. This is important, 
this meeting with Prime Minister Starmer tomorrow. I don't want to lose 
a military base we need. So I appreciate your indulgence.

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