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President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to cut off all trade with Spain, citing concerns including Spain’s stance on U.S. access to military bases and Spain’s position on NATO defense spending. Trump made the comments during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, framing the threat as a response to what he said was a lack of support from Spain as the U.S. and others respond to the Iran war.
Trump said, “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain,” telling reporters during the meeting, “We don’t want anything to do with Spain.” He added that even with Spain’s refusal, the U.S. “could use their base if we want,” but said, “We don’t have to,” as he discussed the relationship between access to Spanish facilities and how the U.S. would carry out strikes.
The threat came after Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said the day before that Spain would not allow U.S. use of jointly operated bases in southern Spain for strikes that are not covered by the United Nations’ charter. Albares said the bases in Spain were not used in the weekend attack on Iran.
Trump’s comments also referenced Spain’s NATO spending posture. He complained that Spain was “the only country that in NATO would not agree to go up to 5%” in NATO spending, and said Spain “don’t pay the 2%.” Merz responded that Trump was correct, saying, “We are trying to convince them that this is a part of our common security, that we all have to comply with this.”
Spain defended its record on Tuesday, with a spokesperson from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s office saying in response that Spain is “a key member of NATO, fulfilling its commitments and making a significant contribution to the defense of European territory.” The same office said the situation also involved a longer-running dispute with the Trump administration, with Sánchez having criticized U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and called the intervention “unjustifiable” and “dangerous.”
On the trade threat itself, the Spanish prime minister’s office said it expected any review of trade arrangements to respect European and international rules. The spokesperson said, “If the U.S. administration wishes to review the trade agreement, it must do so respecting the autonomy of private companies, international law, and bilateral agreements between the European Union and the United States.” The office also said Spain supported an approach consistent with EU-level negotiations rather than bilateral action against a single member state.
European officials said they expected the Trump administration to follow through on existing arrangements. The EU said it expects the administration to honor a trade deal the 27-nation bloc struck with the U.S. in Scotland last year, after months of economic uncertainty tied to Trump’s tariff actions. European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said, “The Commission will always ensure that the interests of the European Union are fully protected.”
During the meeting, Trump also turned to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about the scope of the administration’s ability to act. Bessent told Trump, “I agree that the Supreme Court reaffirmed your ability to implement an embargo,” and said the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department would “begin investigations and we’ll move forward with those.” A Treasury Department representative did not respond to a request from The Associated Press for additional comment.
The AP report said it was unclear how Trump’s threat to end trade with Spain would be implemented because Spain is part of the European Union, whose trade negotiations cover all 27 member countries. The report also described the announcement as the latest example of Trump using threats of tariffs or trade embargoes as punishment, after a Supreme Court decision struck down Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs while leaving the administration’s view that the president could impose embargoes in place.