US President Donald Trump has ordered a complete halt to trade with Spain and dismissed the country as “hopeless” and a “terrible partner” in NATO, escalating a bitter row over its refusal to raise defence spending.
Speaking at the alliance’s summit in Ankara alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, he said Madrid neither participated nor paid its way. “Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits,” Trump said.
The US President turned to his treasury secretary to order the move at once and warned that Washington would ensure Spain earned far less from the relationship. He also called the country’s leaders “bad people”.
Rutte intervened to defend Spain, telling Trump it had taken a big step over the past year. “You got Spain to pay 2 per cent,” the NATO chief said, though he acknowledged there were still issues to resolve.
Spain is the only NATO member not to have committed to spending 5 per cent of gross domestic product on defence by 2035. It says it has reached the former 2 per cent target and now ranks seventh in the alliance for military spending.
The Spanish Government played down the attack. Sources at the Moncloa palace said they had expected the remarks and that trade and defence ties benefited both countries, according to Reuters.
The dispute has hardened since Madrid blocked the use of the Rota and Morón bases in southern Spain for US strikes on Iran earlier this year. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been among the campaign’s sharpest European critics.
Trump first threatened to cut trade with Spain in March. In April a reported Pentagon email suggested Washington had even weighed suspending Madrid from the alliance, a step officials said would carry symbolic weight though little military consequence.
Markets reacted quickly to the remarks. The yield on Spain’s benchmark 10-year bond rose and the IBEX 35 share index fell more than 1 per cent, according to CNBC.
The clash overshadowed a summit hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and built around Rutte’s call for a stronger European role within a reshaped alliance. Allied leaders were also due to address continued military support for Ukraine.
