President Donald Trump threatened to end trade with Spain on Tuesday, citing a lack of support for US and Israeli attacks on Iran and the European nation’s resistance to increasing its NATO spending.
“We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “We don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
The US president’s comments came a day after Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez said his country would not allow the US to use bases operating jointly in southern Spain in any strikes not covered by the United Nations charter.
Albares noted that military bases in Spain were not used in the weekend attack on Iran.
It is not clear how Trump will cut trade with Spain since Spain is under the European Union. The EU negotiates trade agreements on behalf of all 27 member states.
“If the US administration wants to review the trade agreement, it must respect the autonomy of private companies, international law and bilateral agreements between the European Union and the United States,” a spokesman for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s office said on Tuesday.
The EU has said it expects the Trump administration to honor a trade deal it struck with the 27-nation bloc in Scotland last year after months of economic uncertainty from Trump’s tariff blitzkrieg.
“The Commission will always ensure that the interests of the European Union are fully protected,” European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said.
It’s the latest instance of a president using the threat of tariffs or trade sanctions as punishment, and comes on the heels of a Supreme Court decision that struck down Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs.
While the court said the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs, Trump now maintains that the court allows him to impose full-scale sanctions on other nations of his choosing.
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Trump on Tuesday made fresh complaints about Spain’s decision last year to withdraw from NATO’s 5 percent defense spending target. At the time, Spain said it could reach its military capacity by spending 2.1 percent of its GDP, a move Trump roundly criticized and responded with threats of tariffs.
Spain, Trump said, was “the only country in NATO that didn’t agree to go to 5 percent” of NATO spending. “I don’t think they agreed to go to anything. They wanted to keep it at 2 percent and they wouldn’t pay 2 percent.”
Merz noted that Trump is right and “we’re trying to convince him that this is a part of our common security, that we all have to follow.”
Spain defended its position on Tuesday, saying it is “an important member of NATO, fulfilling its commitments and making a significant contribution to the defense of the European region,” a spokesman for Sanchez’s office said.
During the Oval Office meeting, Trump turned to US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant for his opinion on the president’s embargo authority.
Besant said, “I agree that the Supreme Court reaffirmed your ability to enforce the ban.” Besant added that the US Trade Representative and the Commerce Department will “initiate investigations and we will continue with them.”
A representative for the US Treasury Department did not respond to The Associated Press’ request for additional comment.
Sanchez has criticized the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, calling it “unjustifiable” and “dangerous” military intervention. His government has called for immediate de-escalation and talks, and condemned Iran’s attacks across the region.
“We have nothing but great people in Spain, they have great people, but they don’t have great leadership,” Trump said.
Spain’s position on the use of US bases on its territory marks the latest escalation in its relationship with the Trump administration. Under Sanchez, Europe’s last major progressive leader, Spain was an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza.
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(tags to translate)Iran(T)Donald Trump(T)NATO(T)Spain(T)US News(T)World
