Sánchez snubs Trump at the UN for "agenda reasons"

BarcelonaPedro Sánchez snubs Donald Trump. The Spanish president will not attend the reception this Tuesday that his American counterpart is offering in New York on the occasion of the start of the UN General Assembly. Sources from Moncloa cited by the Efe agency have alleged "agenda reasons," although right now the socialist leader has nothing scheduled on his agenda that coincides with the reception.

The decision comes amid growing tension between Spain and the US - Trump even went so far as to threaten in July to cut off trade with Spain - and at a time when Sánchez seeks to establish himself as an antithesis to Trump at an international level. His trip to New York, in fact, is intended to champion his discourse against techno-oligarchs and the far-right and in defense of multilateralism. And all this, within the framework of a strategy to broaden the focus, which has been centered in recent weeks on the crisis in Ceuta.

Sánchez, who will indeed attend Trump's speech at the opening of the general assembly, did not attend the reception offered by the US president last year, because it was King Felipe VI who presided over the Spanish delegation. He was also not present at the 2024 one, when the host was President Joe Biden, but in that case because it coincided with his speech before the general assembly.

The first two years in which Sánchez traveled to New York as president, in 2018 and 2019, he did attend the receptions offered by Trump with his wife, Begoña Gómez, while in 2020 and 2021 there were none due to the pandemic. He was also present at those offered by Biden in September 2022 and 2023, according to Efe.

Beyond the meeting at the United Nations, Sánchez has other events this Tuesday in New York, where he has traveled alongside his third vice president, María Jesús Montero, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. Throughout the day, he is scheduled to meet with the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and also to attend a tribute to the writer and journalist Gloria Steinem, a feminist icon who passed away at the beginning of September.

Additionally, he will also attend an event on the protection of children against AI -the day after having presented his plan for the regulation of artificial intelligence- and another on the defense of the UN's sustainable development goals, two topics on which he also clashes with Donald Trump.