BEIJING, China — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday rejected U.S. criticism of his government’s deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands — pointing out that key members of Donald Trump’s administration openly backed it just months ago.

Speaking to reporters on a trip to China, Starmer said renewed talks on the agreement — which sees Britain cede sovereignty of the islands housing U.S. military base Diego Garcia to Mauritius — were now underway with Washington D.C.

But the British PM highlighted “very clear” previous statements of support for the deal by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

“It has been raised with the White House at the tail end of last week, over the weekend and into the early part of this week,” Starmer said of ongoing engagement on the issue.

“The position, as you know, is that when the Trump administration came in, we paused for three months to give them time to consider the Chagos deal, which they did at agency level.

“And once they’d done that, they were very clear in the pronouncements about the fact that they supported the deal, and they were announcements made by… the defense secretary … I think Marco Rubio as well, and by President Trump himself.”

Under the arrangement, struck last year after months of negotiations, the Diego Garcia military base will remain under U.K. and U.S. control for the next 99 years. The Mauritian government has long claimed it was forced to give up the islands for its own independence from Britain in 1968, and it will receive payments from the U.K. for the new set-up.

Hegseth publicly backed the agreement in a statement issued last May, saying in a social media post that the “very important” agreement “secures the operational capabilities of the base and key US national security interests in the region. We are confident the base is protected for many years ahead.”

Rubio — who had been more hawkish on the deal before taking a job in the Trump administration — issued a statement in May hailing the “United Kingdom and Mauritius for their leadership, vision, and commitment to ensure that Diego Garcia remains fully operational for the duration of this agreement.”

But Trump blindsided London last week with a Truth Social post calling the deal an act of “great stupidity” without any justification.

Opposition politicians, including Reform UK Leader and Trump ally Nigel Farage, welcomed the change of stance, with Farage saying: “The Americans have woken up to the fact that they were lied to.”