During a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, US President Donald Trump announced his intention to completely sever trade ties with Spain. Leading global media outlets reported this.
“Spain has behaved terribly. We are going to cut off all trade with Spain. We want nothing to do with them,” Trump told reporters. He added that he had already instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings with Spain.”
The main reason for this abrupt statement was the Spanish government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez refusal to allow the use of American military bases on Spanish territory in Rota and Morón for operations as part of the current US-Israeli military campaign against Iran. Trump also linked the threat to long-standing dissatisfaction with Spain’s level of military spending within NATO: the country refuses to increase it to the required 5% of GDP (according to Trump), remaining at around 2%.
“Spain is a terrible ally. First, they don’t want to pay 5% to NATO, then they refuse to help in a critical situation. We don’t need them,” the US President emphasized.
Madrid’s reaction was restrained but firm. The Spanish government stated: “Spain fulfills its obligations and remains a reliable trading partner for 195 countries, including the US. Any changes to trade relations must respect the autonomy of companies, international law, and bilateral agreements between the EU and the US.”
Experts note that a formal, complete cessation of trade between the US and Spain (bilateral trade exceeded $40 billion in 2025) would require serious legal steps: the imposition of an embargo, the abolition of trade preferences within the WTO, and EU-US agreements. For now, this is a political threat and an order to the Treasury Department to prepare measures, but Trump has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to implement such statements through executive orders.
This isn’t the first time Trump has used trade threats against European NATO allies during a period of escalation in the Middle East. Similar accusations have previously been leveled at the UK and other countries for refusing to actively support operations against Iran.
At the time of publication, the White House and the US Treasury have not released official documents or a timeline for the threat. The EU and the Spanish government emphasize that any unilateral sanctions against an EU member will be viewed as an attack on the entire bloc and will be met with retaliatory measures.