Sánchez responds to Trump with "No to war" and with sovereign Spanish pride

First we talked about the cut (the war)We'll talk about the side dishes (the Trump-Sanchez duel) later.

They'll already know that yesterday Trump said he had ordered a halt to trade with Spain.which he described as a "terrible country", because it has not allowed him to use the air bases of Rota (Cadiz) and Morón (Seville) in the war against Iran.

Donald Trump: "Spain has absolutely nothing we need except great people. They have fantastic people, but they don't have great leadership. So we're going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don't want anything to do with Spain..."

Well, this morning, at 9 a.m., Sánchez appeared at Moncloa Palace to respond to the President of the United States.

This has been the defining speech of Sánchez's political career.The speech in which he risked everything, because we are talking about a war, even more so, a potential world war. The moment is very dangerous. And Sánchez has not been lukewarm, nor has he tried to appease Trump. If we disregard the fact that we have seen all of Sánchez's sleights of hand, that he is a survivor, that he governs without a budget, and that by confronting Trump he is gaining stature in Spain and the world—that is, if we disregard the miseries of politics (or its more prosaic aspects)—Sánchez delivered a great speech today. Grounded in international law and common sense, he argued that Trump has no plan. That one day his Secretary of State for Defense says they are not seeking regime change, and the next day Trump corrects him and says they are. And that everyone sees that Netanyahu has dragged Trump into the attack, and now Trump comes out and says that he may have "forced Israel's hand."

And what has Sánchez done with this approach? First, he has connected with Spain's recent past, the "No to war" movement, the cause of the PP's defeat in 2004 against Zapatero, hours after the Madrid train bombings that left 193 dead.

Pedro Sánchez: "The position of the Spanish government can be summed up in four words: no to war. The world, Europe, and Spain have already experienced this before. Twenty-three years ago, another US administration dragged us into a war in the Middle East. Our continent has been plagued by conflict since the fall of the Berlin Wall."

Therefore, historical consistency is key. That war began with lies and has brought nothing good, including international law. And, equally or even more importantly, we have much to lose.

"The goal of governments is to improve people's lives, to provide solutions to problems, not to worsen people's lives. And it is absolutely unacceptable that leaders who are incapable of fulfilling this mission use the smoke of war to hide their failure and, in the process, line the pockets of a few, the same ones as always, the only ones, the only missiles."

In case it wasn't clear: Not Trump, but not the ayatollahs either.

"We repudiate the Iranian regime, which represses and vilely kills its citizens, particularly women, but at the same time we reject this conflict and call for a diplomatic and political solution."

Let's stop the war before it's too late:

"Let's remember when, before the start of the First World War in the 20th century, in August 1914, someone asked the then Chancellor of Germany how the First World War had started, and he shrugged and replied, 'I wish I knew.' I wish I knew. We can't play Russian roulette.

In short: the war in Iran could be as disastrous as the Iraq War, or worse. What has happened is a "disaster" because it is uncertain, because not even the promoters know what will happen, because the war could be long, because we must stand by international law, just as we do against Russia with Ukraine or against Israel with Palestine. We don't want an insecure world and a worse life, and therefore, we need diplomacy and demands for peace. No Russian roulette. And even less so because the same old people are lining their pockets. And even less so when it's being driven by two politicians, Netanyahu and Trump, who have elections on the horizon and legal problems. And if anyone asks what Spain has the following allies at this moment: the 1978 Constitution, the founding principles of the EU (we have the euro and international trade is under the EU umbrella), and the UN Charter.

Once he managed to debate Trump, he gained international stature and can now appeal to all left-wing voters. Who knows if he will have a career in the world in the future? But finding himself in this situation is dizzying, because war already has economic costs, and so does cutting off trade between Spain and the United States. Sánchez has chosen a response of sovereign pride, of Spanish national pride. Today, Sánchez has taken a step that history, whether large or small, will judge.

Good morning.