Trump orders Treasury to halt US trade with Spain at NATO summit, calling Madrid a 'terrible partner' over defence spending
US President Donald Trump directed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to sever all commercial ties with Spain during a NATO meeting in Ankara, singling out Madrid for failing to meet alliance spending goals and denying the US use of its military bases for the Iran conflict.
The Ankara outburst
President Trump made the announcement at the start of the NATO summit in Ankara, with Secretary General Mark Rutte at his side. He described Spain as a 'terrible partner' and a 'wasted cause', declaring he wanted no further business with the country. Turning to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, he gave a peremptory order.
Take it immediately, don't even talk to them. They're hopeless. They're bad people.
Bessent replied, 'Yes, sir.' Trump said that Spain makes 'so much money' from the United States and that he intends to see that change.
Reasons: defence spending and the Iran war
Trump's frustration stems from two Spanish refusals. Madrid has not agreed to NATO's new target of spending 5 per cent of GDP on defence, and the socialist-led government of Pedro Sánchez has also barred the US from using Spanish airspace or military bases for operations against Iran. The US maintains Naval Station Rota and Morón Air Base in Spain.
An internal Pentagon email from April, first reported by Reuters, had already laid out options for punishing allies perceived as unhelpful, including suspending Spain from the alliance. Trump told Rutte bluntly: 'Spain doesn't agree to anything, and you shouldn't carry them.'
Spanish response: de-escalation
Madrid reacted calmly, with the prime minister's office issuing a statement that it was treating the remarks as a routine matter. The Spanish government stressed that it wished to maintain the 'excellent' social, cultural and economic relationship with the United States and that, as an EU member, trade policy is a matter for the European Union. Rutte himself noted the increase in Spanish defence spending and tried to downplay Trump's words.
Broader NATO tensions and Greenland
Trump also voiced general anger at the alliance, saying he was 'very angry at NATO' because allies had not helped the US in the Iran war, though he acknowledged that the US had not truly needed help but had been testing them. He singled out Italy and Germany for criticism but praised Rutte as a 'great Secretary General'. Separately, he renewed his push for US control of Greenland, urging that the territory 'should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark'. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pushed back unequivocally.
It is a well-known position of the United States that it wants to own and take over Greenland. I hope that it is equally well-known everywhere that this is not going to happen.
