- Trump ordered an immediate halt to U.S. trade with Spain
- The move followed disagreements over NATO defence spending
- Spain said it would maintain strong relations with the United States
President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed U.S. officials to immediately halt trade with Spain, intensifying a dispute with the NATO ally over defence spending and disagreements surrounding the conflict involving Iran.
Eko Hot Blog gathered that the announcement came during the NATO summit in Ankara, where alliance leaders had hoped to present a united front. Instead, Trump renewed criticism of Spain while also restating his position that the United States should take control of Greenland, drawing another sharp response from Denmark.
Trump’s order targeted Spain over its refusal to commit to NATO’s proposed defence spending target of five per cent of gross domestic product. It marked the second time he had instructed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to suspend trade with Spain, although a similar directive issued in March did not disrupt commercial relations between the two countries.
Addressing NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump criticised Spain’s position, arguing that other alliance members should not bear the burden of its defence commitments.
“I don’t want to do any trade with them,” Trump said before instructing Bessent to implement the decision immediately. He also accused Spain of benefiting disproportionately from trade with the United States and warned that the situation would change.
Rutte attempted to ease tensions by acknowledging that Spain had increased its defence spending to two per cent of GDP last year but admitted there were still outstanding issues that needed to be resolved.
Spain’s government dismissed Trump’s comments, describing them as routine. A statement from the office of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Madrid remained committed to maintaining strong relations with Washington.
The Spanish government also noted that Spain records a trade deficit with the United States and stressed that trade policy is negotiated collectively by the European Union, meaning individual member states cannot independently negotiate trade agreements with the U.S.
Trump has repeatedly criticised Sánchez’s administration, particularly after Spain declined to allow the United States to use its airspace and military bases during operations linked to the Iran conflict.
Despite the disagreement, the two countries continue to jointly operate key naval and air bases in southern Spain.
Spain is a major exporter of olive oil and also supplies the United States with automobile parts, steel and chemical products. However, analysts believe the Spanish economy is less exposed to potential U.S. trade restrictions than several other European nations
