US President Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on Spain, calling it “terrible” and “a horror show” as he accused several NATO allies of refusing to back Washington during its war against Iran.
Trump made the remarks on June 24 during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House, a day after the United States and Iran agreed a ceasefire.
The US president singled out the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain for criticism, arguing they had let Washington down during the six-week conflict.
“Spain is a horror show. Spain is terrible. I was disappointed with Italy. I was disappointed with the UK. We were disappointed with Germany and France. We’re disappointed with most of them,” Trump said.
He accused the allies of wanting a “free ride” and said they were unwilling to contribute to collective security, though he insisted Washington had needed no help to defeat Tehran.
“We didn’t need help on this at all. We demolished [Iran] literally in the first week, but it would have been nice if they had said, ‘We’d like to help’,” Trump said.
The president said he wanted one thing from member states in future. “I just want loyalty. You know, we’re so loyal to them. We are always fighting for them,” he said, noting that the US has tens of thousands of troops stationed across Europe.
Spain has been a recurring target of Trump’s anger. The Spanish Government refused to allow American forces to use the jointly operated Rota naval base and Morón airbase, in southern Spain, for operations against Iran, deeming the strikes a breach of international law.
Madrid also rejected NATO’s pledge to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, a target agreed by the alliance’s other members. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has argued the figure would be “unreasonable” and counterproductive.
Rutte sought to play down the friction without directly contradicting Trump, pointing to the role European bases had played in the campaign.
“I know there have been isolated cases about which you are really disappointed,” Rutte said. “But generally speaking, your European allies have been there.”
The NATO chief said between 4,000 and 5,000 US aircraft had taken off from bases in Europe during the six weeks of fighting, and that degrading Iran’s nuclear capability had removed a threat to the wider world.
The exchange came less than two weeks before leaders of NATO’s 32 member states were due to gather for a summit in Ankara on July 7 and 8.
