Trump calls to cut off all US trade with Spain

Administration Trump calls to cut off all US trade with Spain Comments: by Julia Manchester - 07/08/26 7:44 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Julia Manchester - 07/08/26 7:44 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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President Trump lashed out at Spain early Wednesday during remarks from the NATO summit, urging the U.S. to cut off all trade with the European country over what he called a lack of contributions to defense spending.

“Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore by the way,” Trump said, sitting alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the group’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,” he said.

“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 he “shouldn’t carry” Spain.

“I mean, you sort automatically carry [Spain] because you’re protecting an area,” the president said. “So they [Spain] probably figured ‘they have to protect us, right?’”

According to Reuters, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s office said it was treating Trump’s comments on Tuesday as “business as usual” and that it did not intend to change what it called Spain’s “excellent” trade relations with the U.S.

Trump has repeatedly hammered NATO member countries over their defense spending, pressing them to meet a spending goal of 5 percent of each country’s total gross domestic product (GDP). The alliance has agreed to meet a 3.5 percent mark by 2035.

Only five out of NATO’s 32 total member countries are projected to hit that goal by this year.

Trump has also been critical of NATO member countries, particularly Spain, over their work responding to the U.S. war in Iran, arguing that they have not done enough to assist the U.S. in its efforts.

Spain, in particular, has been vocally critical of the Trump administration in its efforts, and has not been afraid to slam the president. The European country has not allowed the U.S. to jointly use operated military bases in Spain for operations related to the Iran war.

“Has anybody looked at how badly the country of Spain is doing,” Trump said in a Truth Social post in April. “Their financial numbers, despite contributing almost nothing to NATO and their military defense, are absolutely horrendous. Sad to watch!!!”