We don't want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way.
Spain is a terrible partner in NATO.
We don't want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way.
NATO CHIEF DEFENDS SPAINAs Trump criticised Madrid, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte defended Spain's progress, telling the US President, "You got Spain to pay 2%.
The country's health minister wrote on X: "Trump calls Spain a "terrible partner" because it accepts neither blackmail nor threats.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday dramatically escalated his standoff with Spain, declaring that the United States should cut off all trade ties with the NATO ally and urging an end to travel between the two countries.
Speaking during the NATO summit alongside Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump branded Spain a "terrible partner" in the alliance, accusing Madrid of failing to contribute adequately to collective defence and saying Washington no longer wanted to do business with the country.
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"I didn't speak to Spain. Spain is a wasted cause. We don't want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way. I'd like you to cut it off. Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don't participate, they don't pay. I don't want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, including visits," Trump said.
Trump went on to predict that Spain would eventually seek to restore ties with Washington, insisting, "Watch them, watch them come running back. Oh, they'll come running back."
VIDEO | US President Donald Trump says, "I spoke to Italy... I didn't speak to Spain. Spain is a wasted cause. We don't want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way. I'd like you to cut it off. Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don't participate. They pic.twitter.com/TwtRHz8GCN— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 8, 2026
Trump accused Madrid of refusing to cooperate within the alliance, saying, "Spain doesn't agree to anything," and argued that the US should not continue supporting countries that, in his view, were not contributing enough.
Reiterating his call to end economic ties, he said, "We don't have to trade with them. I don't want to do any more trade with them," before urging officials to "Take it immediately. Don't even talk to them."
Trump further described Spain as "hopeless" and claimed it had benefited disproportionately from trade with the US, asserting, "They make so much money with us, and we're going to see that they make a lot less," before concluding, "I want no business with them."
The remarks came as Trump also declared that the memorandum of understanding reached with Iran to end the recent conflict was effectively over, saying he no longer wanted to negotiate with Tehran.
"It's a very interesting question. To me, I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them," Trump said. "They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people."
"As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them," he added.
DISPUTE BETWEEN NATO ALLIES
The latest outburst marks another escalation in Trump's long-running dispute with Madrid over NATO burden-sharing.
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Spain is the only alliance member that has refused to commit to NATO's new defence spending target of 5 per cent of GDP by 2035, securing an exemption that allows it to cap military expenditure at 2.1 per cent of GDP.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Spain raised defence spending from 1.4 per cent of GDP in 2021 to 2.1 per cent in 2025, but it still ranks among the alliance's lowest spenders.
NATO CHIEF DEFENDS SPAIN
As Trump criticised Madrid, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte defended Spain's progress, telling the US President, "You got Spain to pay 2%. They spent, they made a huge step last year," while acknowledging there were still "issues we have to solve" regarding the country's contribution.
SPAIN SAID ‘NO’ TO US DURING IRAN WAR
Trump's criticism extends beyond defence spending. Relations between Washington and Madrid have remained strained since Spain refused to allow the US to use the jointly operated military bases at Rota and Morón, as well as Spanish airspace, to support military operations against Iran.
Prime Minister Pedro Snchez 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.
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BUSINESS AS USUAL: SPANISH PM
Responding to Trump's latest remarks, the office of Prime Minister Snchez said Madrid was treating the statements as "business as usual" and had no intention of changing its "excellent" political, economic and social relationship with the US.
The government stressed that bilateral relations benefited both countries and pointed out that the US currently enjoys a trade surplus with Spain.
It also noted that, as a member of the European Union's customs and trade union, Spain cannot be individually targeted through unilateral trade measures, while adding that commercial ties are shaped by private companies rather than governments.
Spain also hit back politically. The country's health minister wrote on X: "Trump calls Spain a "terrible partner" because it accepts neither blackmail nor threats. Because we are a sovereign, democratic country that defends multilateralism and peace. Terrible is to confuse diplomacy with thuggery."
Spain, the world's largest exporter of olive oil and a major supplier of auto parts, steel and chemicals to the US, is considered less exposed to potential US trade restrictions than several other European economies.
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Even so, Trump's latest remarks underscore deepening divisions between Washington and Madrid over defence, foreign policy and transatlantic cooperation, leaving fresh uncertainty over whether the rhetoric will translate into concrete policy measures.
- Ends
With agency inputs
