U.S. President Donald Trump lambasted Britain's deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago - including an island with an important U.S.-UK air base - as an act of "total weakness" and "great stupidity" that underlines why he wants to acquire Greenland.

The British government on Tuesday defended its decision to hand sovereignty the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after U.S. President Donald Trump attacked the plan, which his administration had previously...