Trump says at NATO summit he has ordered cutoff of US trade with Spain

Reuters - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday at a NATO summit he had ordered his ​Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to cut off all ‌trade with Spain, calling Madrid a "terrible partner" in the alliance.

Trump, speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the start of the summit in ​Ankara, said he wanted no business with Spain.

Trump ​has repeatedly expressed frustration with Spain, which has not ⁠agreed to NATO's new defence spending target of 5% ​of GDP and whose Socialist leadership refused to let the ​U.S. use its airspace or bases on its territory for the Iran war.

"Spain doesn't agree to anything, and you shouldn't carry them," ​Trump told Rutte.

"I don't want to do any trade ​with them, alright?" he said, turning to Bessent, who replied: "Yes, sir."

"Take it ‌immediately, ⁠Don't even talk to them. They're hopeless. They're bad people," he added. "They make so much money with us, and we're going to see that they make a lot less. ​I want no ​business with ⁠them."

The United States has two important military bases in Spain: Naval Station Rota ​and Moron Air Base.

An internal Pentagon email outlined ​options ⁠for the United States to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support U.S. operations in the war with Iran, ⁠including ​suspending Spain from the alliance, a ​U.S. official told Reuters in April.