US President Donald Trump said Spain agreed to additional payments after a bitter Nato summit clash over defence spending and Iran. Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez called their exchange cordial as US agencies examined possible trade steps against Spanish goods.
US President Donald Trump claimed that Spain reversed its position after he threatened to cut off trade with the Nato ally, saying Madrid agreed to make additional financial commitments following a heated dispute over defence spending and the Iran conflict at the alliance’s summit.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while returning to Washington, Trump asserted that his hardline stance had forced Spain to comply with US demands.
“I had issues with Spain, and I still do. But Spain came all the way back today. Spain was very generous today. I told them I have to stop trading. They honoured a request for lots of payment. If they hadn’t, we wouldn’t have even talked to them,” Trump said.
He accused Spain of behaving poorly during negotiations but maintained that the summit ultimately ended on a positive note.
“They were very bad. They behaved very badly, in my opinion. But there was great unity in that room today. The Nato, pretty amazing. There was something very good about it. There was tremendous unity and togetherness,” he added.
The confrontation unfolded during the NATO summit in Ankara, where Trump sharply criticised Spain for refusing to commit to the alliance’s new defence spending target of 5 per cent of GDP.
Calling Spain a “terrible partner” and a “wasted cause,” Trump instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt all trade with the country.
“I don’t want to do any trade with them, alright?… I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits, OK?” Trump said, with Bessent replying, “Yes, sir.”
It marked the second time Trump has publicly ordered a suspension of trade with Spain over defence spending.
A similar directive issued in March, however, did not result in any disruption to bilateral trade.
According to a US official, the Treasury Department, in coordination with the Commerce Department and the Office of the US Trade Representative, has been asked to prepare a list of Spanish products that could face embargoes in the coming days.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, however, sought to downplay the standoff, describing his interaction with Trump as “very cordial”.
Sanchez said they discussed topics such as the FIFA World Cup and golf, but not military spending.
Reaffirming Spain’s commitment to Nato, Sanchez announced a fresh deployment of Spanish troops to Finland as part of the alliance’s Arctic Sentry mission and insisted, “The facts are the facts.”
He also stressed that Spain remains a dependable ally and pointed out that trade relations between Spain and the US have remained strong across governments of different political ideologies.
His office further noted that Spain runs a trade deficit with the US and emphasised that European Union trade rules prevent individual member states from negotiating separate trade arrangements with Washington.
Relations between Washington and Madrid have remained strained since Spain refused to allow the US to use the jointly operated military bases, as well as Spanish airspace, to support military operations against Iran.
Prime Minister Sanchez had also publicly criticised the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, describing them as unilateral military action that risked making the international order more unstable.
(With Reuters inputs)
