U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced an immediate halt to all trade with NATO ally Spain, accusing the country of failing to contribute enough to the alliance’s defense spending.
“Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way,” Trump said while appearing alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the alliance’s summit in Ankara, Turkey.
“Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate. They don’t pay,” the president continued. “I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits.”
“Watch them come running back. Oh, they’ll come running back,” he added.
Trump also accused Madrid of treating Rutte “terribly,” telling the NATO chief that he “shouldn’t carry” Spain.
“I mean, you sort of automatically carry Spain because you’re protecting an area,” Trump said. “So they probably figured, ‘They have to protect us, right?'”
According to Reuters, the office of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said it was treating Trump’s remarks as “business as usual” and had no plans to alter what it described as Spain’s “excellent” trade relations with the United States.
Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO member states over defense spending, urging each country to allocate 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to defense. However, the alliance has agreed on a target of 3.5 percent of GDP by 2035.
Only five of NATO’s 32 member countries are projected to meet that target this year.
Trump has also been critical of several NATO allies, particularly Spain, over their response to the U.S. conflict with Iran, arguing they have not done enough to support Washington’s efforts.
In an April post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Has anybody looked at how badly the country of Spain is doing? Their financial numbers, despite contributing almost nothing to NATO and their military defense, are absolutely horrendous. Sad to watch!!!”
