Trump calls Spain a 'terrible ally' and threatens to cut off all trade relations

Donald Trump once again lashed out at Spain on Thursday for not allocating five per cent of its GDP to defence spending and called the country "a terrible ally".

Trump announced that he had conveyed to his Treasury Scretary Scott Bessent his intention to sever all trade relations with Spain, according to Reuters.

Speaking alongside Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, the US President stated that he is unhappy with Nato's handling of the Greenland dispute and the lack of support from allies for his military operation in Iran.

"They weren't willing to help us... I spoke with Germany, with France, with the UK... I didn't speak with Spain because it's a lost cause," he said.

Trump launched an unexpected attack against Spain, in the presence of Rutte. "They are a terrible ally. They don't participate, they don't pay. I don't want anything to do with Spain. I don't even plan on visiting again," he declared.

He turned to Scott Bessent and asked him to "immediately" draft an order to cease all trade with Spain.

Trump warned that Spain would "come running back" and dismissed the idea of negotiating to find a solution. "Do it immediately," he ordered Bessent. "I don't want anything to do with them, I don't even want to talk to them, theyre a lost cause, bad people, because the rest of us are going to pay."

Trump said that, in addition to Spain, "there are others" who are not adhering to the defence spending trajectory agreed upon last year in The Hague. 

"Spain, in particular, is very open about this issue, they're hostile about it, so we'll see if they remain so hostile when they call us and say: 'Please, please, we want to trade with you,'" Trump stated.

He also said that Spain "makes a lot of money" at the expense of the US and that "they'll see how much less they make" without those relations. "I don't want anything to do with them, but other than that, we'll have a great meeting," he concluded.

The Spanish government's response to Trump's statements was immediate. Sources at the Moncloa palace stated that they had received Trump's remarks without concerns. They reminded him that the EU is "a trade union in which no member state can be singled out" and that it is private companies, not governments, that "forge" economic ties.

The current relationship, Spanish sources stated, is "beneficial" for both nations, in both trade and defence. Following the Trump's attacks, Rutte highlighted that Spain had reached two per cent of GDP and that it was precisely the US President who was responsible for the country reaching that spending level.

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