Trump threatens to cut trade with Spain and Sánchez downplays it: "It's all been good words"

Special envoy to AnkaraDonald Trump has once again set the NATO summit ablaze. Upon arriving at the meeting of leaders in Ankara, the President of the United States has lashed out indiscriminately at his allies, especially against Spain, and has asked the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, to "immediately" cut off trade and bilateral relations with the Spanish state. However, Pedro Sánchez has downplayed it and assured at a press conference that Spain maintains good relations with the United States. In fact, this threat is not new, it is legally very difficult to carry out because —apart from Spain belonging to the European Union— the measure could be halted by the US Congress or courts.

"It's a lost cause. We no longer want to do any commercial business with Spain. By the way, Bessent, I'd like you to cut it off. Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don't participate, they don't pay. I don't want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits," the President of the United States ordered in front of the press, without anyone having asked him about his relations with Pedro Sánchez. He also described the citizens of the Spanish state as "bad people" and "desperate."

In fact, the President of the United States, who has described himself as a "good man" who is treated "terribly" by the Spanish, has criticized that Spain "disagrees with everything." Thus, Trump has accused the Spanish government of "profiting enormously" from the United States, both in defense and in commercial matters, and has said that afterwards they call him to beg him not to break relations with Spain. "Please, please, we want to do business with you," the New York magnate replied, as if it were a telephone conversation with Spanish authorities.

However, Brussels has recalled that the European Union is a single bloc in commercial matters and, therefore, if Trump wants to attack Spain, he must face all member states. Furthermore, the European Commission has once again urged Washington to comply with the trade agreement they closed last summer. Faced with this reality, the President of the United States has raised the stakes and said that "we will see what happens" with transatlantic trade relations.

These statements by Trump come after Pedro Sánchez criticized the attack by the United States and Israel against Iran, which marked the beginning of the war in the Middle East. La Moncloa also refused to allow U.S. troops to use military bases located in Spanish territory, and the Spanish government is the only allied government openly opposing the increase in military spending demanded by the White House: at least 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035.

Sánchez's "calm"

Sánchez has assured that he has received Trump's threats with "calm and patience". "In the end, when one distances oneself a little from these kinds of statements, one sees that relations between the US and Spain are very positive," he stressed. Even, according to the Spanish government president, he had an informal conversation with his US counterpart at the summit and, informally and cordially, they spoke about the Football World Cup, which is partly held in the United States. "Everything has been good words," insisted the socialist leader.

And, in fact, even though Trump had been railing against European allies throughout the summit, at the final press conference he assured that at the meeting between NATO leaders, an atmosphere of "enormous love" had prevailed. It seemed as if, all of a sudden, he had forgotten all the threats he had made in recent hours. "They love each other, they love each other. There has been magnificent unity in the room. [...] Yes," insisted the New York magnate. However, and even though he seemed to forgive the rest of the allies, at the last moment he again said that Spain "has behaved really badly".

Before Sánchez's statements, Moncloa, which already had a reaction prepared for Trump's potential threats, assured in a press statement that it receives the US president's statements with "calm and normality". "Our country has a magnificent social, economic and cultural relationship with the United States, and our intention is not for this to change," says the text sent by the Spanish government, which assures that the North American power has a trade surplus with Spain and, therefore, benefits more from the relations they maintain.

In turn, the NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, has timidly come out in defense of Sánchez before Trump, recalling that Spain has already substantially increased military spending and has already reached 2% of GDP this 2025. Of course, the leader of the Atlantic Alliance attributed this increase in the rate that the State allocates to defense to the pressure exerted by the President of the United States, and thanked him. "You have managed to get even Spain to pay 2%. They took a big step forward last year, even if there are problems to solve," the NATO leader told the New York magnate.

It is not the first time that Trump, who arrived late for the meeting, has announced trade reprisals against Spain for political divergences. In fact, at last year's NATO summit in The Hague, the President of the United States assured that he would raise tariffs on Spanish products, although the announcement remained a dead letter. Furthermore, the Spanish state is not the only ally to have received Trump's commercial threats, but countries such as Germany, France, and Italy have also been targeted. In none of these cases, however, has the New York magnate ended up making his threats a reality. It remains to be seen if, this time, it will be a dead letter again.