Welcome Donald Trump

MadridProbably, no country desires a diplomatic conflict with the United States. Even if it's Trump's United States, they remain the world's leading power, still situated in the traditional Western bloc. However, this is not the case for Pedro Sánchez. A new clash with Donald Trump is welcome for La Moncloa, at a time of maximum tension due to the cases of alleged corruption surrounding the PSOE and the Spanish government, and in a week when the focus of the NATO summit in Ankara, at a national level, was also on the bouquet of flowers that could not be delivered to Begoña Gómez due to the justice's veto on her leaving Spain. That is to say, even though Spain has responded with restraint, it suits Sánchez that for one day the framework for debate is once again international relations.

In fact, the engine room of La Moncloa had assumed that the American president would give him the headline, and he was quick to react to the threat of cutting off trade with Spain. "He is a terrible partner in NATO. He doesn't participate, he doesn't pay. I don't want anything to do with Spain," Trump stated, as the Spanish government maintains its goal of reaching 2% of defense investment, compared to the 5% demanded by the United States. La Moncloa already had a reaction prepared to send a message of reassurance.

In fact, days before the summit, the Spanish government was already putting a plaster on the wound, arguing that in relative terms Spain has been the sixth NATO state to most increase its defense spending: it has gone from 11,172 million euros in 2018, when Sánchez began to govern, to 35,419 million in 2026. That is to say, spending has multiplied by three according to the Spanish executive (154% in real terms), despite the discomfort it generates among the government's partners.

And what if the United States decides to reduce the presence of troops from the American bases in Rota and Morón? The Spanish government considers it a sovereign decision of the United States that would have no implications for Spain's security. In practice, they recall, if there were an external attack, Article 5 of NATO would have to be activated, in which other states are obliged to act defensively. In fact, if Trump decided to withdraw the more than 3,000 military personnel from the two bases, it would be an issue that Sánchez could even champion as a triumph, for having stood up to the aggressive foreign policy of the American administration.

Although the months of May and June have been marked by the Zapatero case and the Leire Díez case, at Moncloa they remain insistent on the strategy of Sánchez vs. Trump, as they consider it a way to also confront what a PP-Vox government could represent and mobilize the left. Furthermore, they believe that, although the PSOE leader was initially alone, more and more European leaders have approached his stance. The latest is Giorgia Meloni, an ally of Trump until now, who has ended up publicly confronting the American president over differences regarding the war in Ukraine, Iran, and the attacks by the President of the United States on the Pope of Rome.

Very relevant economic relations

It is also true, however, that the confrontation between Spain and the United States is aerial. That is to say, it is situated mainly at the highest level, while at lower levels, the usual relations continue, including very relevant commercial and economic ones. It is interesting, in this regard, to follow the agenda of the new American ambassador to Madrid, Benjamin León. Of Cuban origin and with Canary Islands ancestry, he speaks Spanish and maintains an emotional bond with Spain. After meeting with several ministers –Albares, Marlaska, Robles, and Planas– and the vice president, Carlos Cuerpo, Benjamin León met on June 17th at the Moncloa Palace with Pedro Sánchez – the same day that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was testifying at the National Court.

A rather unusual meeting, as the president does not usually receive ambassadors, but which occurred after a public complaint by León about not yet having been officially received at the highest level. Feijóo and Abascal, as well as Isabel Díaz Ayuso, had received him.

After the meeting with Pedro Sánchez, a strategic issue for both the United States and Spain has been resolved: Indra and Santa Bárbara (a subsidiary of the American General Dynamics) have signed the peace treaty and are studying the creation of a strategic alliance so that the American company can enter into major defense ministry contracts. These are contracts that Santa Bárbara had challenged in court for having been excluded from the awards of two contracts for the special modernization programs (PEM) of the Spanish government. Not everything is confrontation.