US President Donald Trump criticized Spain on Wednesday at the NATO Summit in Turkey.
Trump called the US relationship with Spain "a wasted cause" and threatened to stop trade with the country while sitting next to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
"We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way," he said, according to the BBC.
"Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate. They don’t pay," he continued. "I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits."
"Watch them come running back. Oh, they’ll come running back," he added.
Trump also brought back his interest in the US acquiring Greenland, a request that had already caused issues between the US and its NATO allies earlier this year.
Trump has been critical of NATO member countries, especially Spain, over their stance on the US war with Iran. In March, Spain refused to allow joint military bases for operations against Iran. The country also openly opposed the war.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described the US and Israeli strikes on Iran as "unjustified" and "a dangerous military intervention" that goes against international law.
Trump is also unhappy with Spain’s refusal to raise its defence spending to 5 percent of its economic output (GDP). Sanchez called this demand "unreasonable and counterproductive." Spain spent 2 percent of its GDP on defence in 2025.
The US President also claimed that Madrid treated Rutte "terribly," while urging the NATO chief to stop supporting Spain.
"I mean, you sort of automatically carry [Spain] because you’re protecting an area," Trump said. "So they probably figured they have to protect us, right?"
However, after Trump’s comments at the summit, Sanchez insisted that relations with the US are still "very positive."
He also mentioned having a casual chat with Trump.
"We talked about the World Cup… there was no tension whatsoever. On the contrary, it was all very friendly," he said.
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