Donald Trump could buy Chagos Islands if Keir Starmer's deal with Mauritius collapses

This is the latest development among various rumours circulating in Washington that Mr Trump has his sights set on purchasing the Indian Ocean British territory - similarly to how he proposed to buy Greenland off of Denmark.

This comes after the US President flip-flopped his stance on the UK-Mauritius deal over the Chagos Islands - initially backing it, but then U-turning, eventually calling it "a great act of stupidity".

The Chagos Islands, a group of seven atolls comprising of move than 60 islands, is the home of Diego Garcia, a joint UK-US military base.

Under the deal with Mauritius, the UK would hand over the Chagos Islands to the East African nation and take out a 99-year lease for Diego Garcia, at an average cost of £101million a year.

However, US insiders have told the Sun that the White House is exploring other options in case the agreement collapses.

One American official said the ideal should be "taken seriously - until you don't".

They added: "While it wouldn't be the first course of action if things get bogged down and frustration rise, the White House definitely doesn't see it as impossible."

The future of the deal remains uncertain, as the UK Government have held off signing the deal in order to appease the "special relationship".

Having been under British control since 1814, the Chagos Islands (officially named the British Indian Ocean Territory) were made an overseas territory in 1965 and paid Mauritius a £3million grant in compensation.

However, the East African nation has argued that it was illegally forced to give the archipelago away as part of an independence deal with Britain.

In the late 1960s, Britain and the US began building a military base on the island of Diego Garcia, where thousands of Chagossians were removed from the island in the process.

Any move from the US would likely be focused on securing Diego Garcia, whose importance to the US has become paramount due to its ongoing military operation against Iran.

On March 13, a Republican senator, John Kennedy of Louisiana, tabled the Diego Garcia Act, which proposes that Senate approval is required before any amendments can be made to the 1966 UK-US treaty which gives them rights to operate from Diego Garcia.

He said: "When two countries shake hands on a treaty, one of them can't start changing the terms without the other country agreeing to it.

"That's just common sense."

However, the UK Government has already made their position clear on an American purchase of the Chagos Islands.

Foreign Office minister, Hamish Falconer, emphasised last week there was no situation in where the US could buy the Indian Ocean territory.

He said: "I can't see an option where the President buys the island.

"We're committed to the deal that we have struck.

"It is one that we've done in close confrontation with our allies."

The Labour minister reinforced the controversial deal was not a move to "satisfy human rights lawyers", but to "make sure a joint base that is really important to us, continues to operate in the same effective way that has so far".

He concluded: "You have my word, it is not an anxiety about human rights lawyers that is driving the actions of this British Government."