Trump Orders U.S. to Cut All Trade With Spain as Feud Escalates at NATO Summit
· Time
President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered the U.S. to cut all trade with Spain, escalating his feud with a key NATO member during the alliance’s summit in Ankara, Turkey.
Trump described Spain as “a wasted cause” and said he no longer wants the U.S. doing business with the country.
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“Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits,” he told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in front of reporters. “Watch them come running back.”
Referring to Spain as a “terrible partner in NATO,” Trump alleged “they don't participate, they don't pay.”
He appeared to be referencing Spain's refusal to commit to investing 5% of GDP annually on defense by 2035, after other member states agreed to the target at last year's summit.
“We don't have to trade with them. I don't want to do any more trade with them. All right, take it immediately,” Trump added. “Don't even talk to them, they're hopeless, bad people.”
Spanish Health Minister Mónica García issued a strong rebuke of Trump’s pointed criticism.
“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,” she said. “Terrible is to confuse diplomacy with thuggery.”
A source from the Spanish government told TIME "our country maintains a magnificent social, cultural, and economic relationship with the U.S.A and it is not our intention that this will change."
Relations between Washington and Madrid have become strained amid the fallout of the Iran war.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez emerged as one of Europe's most vocal critics, accusing the U.S. of dragging the world into a war that has brought only “insecurity and pain.”
Spain notably denied U.S. forces access to joint military bases for offensive operations against Iran and closed its airspace to American aircraft involved in the conflict.
Trump has repeatedly singled out Spain over those decisions and first floated the idea of cutting trade with the country in March—an economic threat that was widely rebuked by European leaders. He did not follow through on the threat, but tensions remained high.
A month later, an internal Pentagon email reportedly suggested various ways the Administration could punish NATO allies it believes let the U.S. down by not actively supporting operations in the Iran war, according to Reuters. The U.S. was said to be floating the idea of suspending Spain from the NATO alliance.
"We do not work with emails," Sánchez told reporters when asked about the matter at the European Union summit that same week. "We work with official documents and positions taken, in this case, by the government of the United States."
Trump later threatened to withdraw American troops from both Spain and Italy, arguing both countries had failed the U.S. by refusing to get actively involved in the Iran war.“
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte greets Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. —SAUL LOEB––AFP/Getty ImagesSince his first term, Trump has accused European allies of not investing enough in their own militaries and relying too heavily on U.S. contributions.
Disagreements over the conflict, and Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, have further splintered relations between the U.S. and NATO allies in recent months.
During Wednesday's press conference, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, often referred to as the “Trump whisperer,” attempted to assure the President that Spain had made significant progress on defense spending.
“You mentioned Spain, even you got Spain to pay 2%,” Rutte said. “They made a huge step last year, there's still issues we have to solve, but even Spain, I would say, they got to the 2%.”
But Trump appeared unconvinced.
In response to Trump's trade threat, European Commission deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill told reporters “we expect the U.S. to honour its commitments... as we have honoured ours."
The Commission "will always ensure that the interests of the European Union and all our member States are fully protected," he added.
The European Union's side of a trade deal struck with the U.S. last year came into effect on July 1. The 27 nations negotiate trade as a bloc, which means that they respond to issues as a collective, also.