Streeting’s comments followed a meeting between Trump and Andy Burnham in which the U.S. president described the agreement brokered by Burnham’s predecessor Keir Starmer as “terrible.”
Under the most recent version of the plan — paused in April when Trump withdrew his support — Mauritius would gain sovereignty over the islands, which are one of Britain’s last colonial possessions.
The military base at Diego Garcia would be leased back to the U.K. and U.S. for a cost of £101m a year. Critics of the deal, including right-wing politicians in the U.K., argue that it risks allowing China a crucial toehold in a strategically-important region.
Trump has said repeatedly that he wants permanent and unrestricted access to the military base — and re-iterated Tuesday that this is “strategically very important” for the U.S., especially in the context of its war with Iran.
Streeting said that he had looked at the situation with a “fresh pair of eyes” after taking over the defense brief in July, and insisted the British “strategy is not to wait out President Trump.”
Working with the U.S. administration will be “difficult and necessarily painstaking work,” he added.