US President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off trade with Spain, as NATO leaders met for day two of their summit in Ankara.
Aside saying that he is very upset with NATO, Trump singled out Spain for particular criticism, calling it a “terrible partner in NATO.” “Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain any more,” he said, asking his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut it off.”
Defence spending has remained one of the summit’s central issues, with the US President urging member states to shoulder a greater share of the alliance’s security burden. For years, Trump has argued that several NATO members have relied too heavily on the United States for defence while failing to invest adequately in their own militaries.
Since returning to office, he has renewed calls for allies to significantly increase defence expenditure, saying stronger European military investment is essential to the alliance’s long-term credibility.
Trump’s remarks came as NATO leaders continued discussions on collective defence, military readiness and support for Ukraine.
Spain has become one of the countries under particular scrutiny because its defence spending remains below NATO’s agreed benchmark. While Madrid has pledged to increase military investment, the Spanish government has maintained that it intends to balance defence commitments with domestic economic priorities.
Meanwhile, Spain downplayed Trump’s latest tirade after he called for the cutting off all trade and branded Madrid a “lost cause” during the NATO summit in Ankara. According to a Spanish news outlet, unnamed government sources said that Spain maintains “a magnificent social, cultural and economic relationship” with the US that benefit both countries.
According to the sources, the European Union is a trade union and so no individual member state can be singled out in trade matters. The government gave the same response to similar threats made by Trump earlier this year after Spain became the only NATO member to refuse to commit to increasing its defence spending to 5 percent of its gross domestic product. According to the news report, the United States has a trade surplus with Spain meaning it benefits from the relationship.
In March, Trump threatened to end trade with Spain, citing a lack of support over the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and the European nation’s resistance to increasing its NATO spending. “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, adding, “We don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
The US President’s comments came a day after Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said that his country would not allow the US to use jointly operated bases in southern Spain in any strikes not covered by the United Nations’ charter. Albares noted that the military bases in Spain were not used in the weekend attack on Iran.
Trump Insists On Control Over Greenland
Trump reopened old wounds as he arrived at the meeting of 32 NATO leaders by insisting again that the United States should control Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory.
Ahead of the summit, Trump said that Greenland “is very important” for the U.S. but not for Denmark.
However, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said ahead of the summit that her country is “ready to defend every inch of NATO including our own territory” in the event of an attack, and would rely on NATO allies to honor their commitment to defend each other.
“We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people’s right for self-determination. Greenland is of course not for sale.”
Mette Frederiksen
The US President’s renewed interest in Greenland could put at risk the entire future of NATO, which was founded in 1949 to counter the threat to European security posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The organization is normally focused on outside threats, not threats from within.
READ ALSO: Ghana Has Only 200 Physician Anaesthesiologists ‘Grossly Inadequate’ -Dr. Akoriyea
