Britain will work hard to resolve a disagreement over the Chagos Islands deal, Andy Burnham has said after Donald Trump branded it a “terrible” agreement.

The US president said Mr Burnham would be “looking at” the deal after their meeting on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, following months of US criticism of the agreement.

The deal would see Britain hand over the Indian Ocean island chain to Mauritius, while retaining control of the joint UK-US military base on the largest island – Diego Garcia – through the £3.4 billion agreement.

Mr Trump, who has raised concerns about the security implications of the deal, said it was “ridiculous” as he met the Prime Minister and described the base as “a very important piece of real estate, militarily and strategically”.

Mr Burnham was asked by broadcasters if the President’s remarks meant the deal was now dead in the water.

He told them: “Well, obviously, I’ve inherited the situation, and we need a resolution.

“It’s critical to safeguard the future of the base, and that matters to us for security reasons, but also clearly to the United States as well.

“So what I said in the meeting is that we will work to find that resolution between the different sides, and we’ll work hard to find it.

“It was clear that we need to come to that agreement, but I’m confident we can find it working with our US partners.”

Asked about the agreement as he sat next to Mr Burnham after talks, Mr Trump said: “I don’t support it. I think it’s terrible. It was a terrible deal.

“They all of a sudden say they have ownership. Somebody has ownership that never showed up before after decades and centuries. I think it’s ridiculous.”

He added: “It’s strategically very important. Very important. You know, we had to send our B-2 bombers when we bombed the Iran nuclear (sites), we had to send the B-2 bombers back home to Missouri.

“As opposed to flying for a short period of time, they had to fly for a long period of time.

“It’s amazing how strategic it is, and I think the Prime Minister is going to be looking at it.”

Mr Burnham agreed he would be.

The US leader added: “It’s a very, very strategic location. Amazing.

“It’s unique. It’s a very important piece of real estate, militarily and strategically.”

Tensions over the agreement were heightened when Britain refused the US use of the outpost for initial military strikes against Iran in February.

En route to New York, Mr Burnham said he had told his Mauritian counterpart in a phone call he would work towards finding a resolution over the Chagos Islands, but admitted the Government did not have one “at the moment”.

The Government under Sir Keir Starmer had argued the deal was necessary to guarantee the future of the Diego Garcia base after an advisory International Court of Justice ruling in 2019 backed Mauritian claims to sovereignty over the islands.

Writing on X, a short time after Mr Trump branded the deal “terrible”, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “The Chagos deal is dead. Thank God.”