Trump threatens an EU country again

President of the United States Donald Trump issued a strong threat to Spain on Tuesday: Trump threatens to suspend all trade relations with Spain, because a dispute has arisen between the two countries over the use of US-Spanish military bases located on Spanish soil. Spain has not allowed the US to use its military bases in Rota and Morón after the US attacked Iran over the weekend.

Spanish Minister of Defense Margareta Robles justified the situation on Monday by stating that American forces must act within the framework of international law. According to him, shared military bases can only be used if it is necessary for humanitarian reasons.

Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez has condemned the Israeli and US attacks on Iran in the strongest terms of the EU leaders. He has described them as unfounded, dangerous and against international law. Sánchez has also condemned Iran’s counterstrikes.

A threat to a NATO ally

Along with the base dispute, Trump has been dissatisfied with the level of defense spending by NATO country Spain.

“It all started when all the European countries, at my request, did what they were supposed to do, which was to commit to giving five percent (of their gross national product) to NATO. And everybody was excited about it, Germany — everybody, but Spain wasn’t. And now Spain has said we can’t use their bases,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday as he met with the German chancellor Friedrich Merzin.

Trump asked the finance minister at the event Scott Bessent to cut off all commerce with Spain.

“We don’t want to have anything to do with Spain”. Trump said and announced that the United States could, for example, embargo Spain.

Bessent stated at the event that, according to him, Trump has the legal right to embargo Spanish goods under emergency powers, even though the US Supreme Court limited Trump’s power in customs policy in February.

Following the Supreme Court’s February ruling, Trump has imposed a 10 percent global tariff under a separate trade law. These tariffs took effect on February 24. Trump has also announced that he will raise the tariff by another five percent, but so far has not done so.

Following Trump’s comments, the Spanish government issued a statement saying the country has the necessary resources to withstand the consequences of potential trade actions. Spain also assures that it is still committed to NATO.

“Spain is a key NATO member country that fulfills its commitments and participates in a significant way in the defense of the European region,” the statement stated.

According to NATO statistics, the GDP share of Spain’s defense spending in 2025 was about 2.1 percent in relation to the gross domestic product.

The pressure continues

Trump’s speeches show once again that the United States is ready to use trade policy threats as a means of foreign policy pressure – also against its allies. This was last seen in January in connection with the Greenland dispute, when Trump threatened 10 percent additional tariffs on the eight EU countries that supported Denmark on the Greenland issue.

Spain is a member of the EU and part of the Union’s common trade policy. Possible US trade actions against a single EU country would therefore target the entire Union.

The recent situation may cause new friction in trade negotiations between the EU and the United States. For example, the European Parliament has not yet agreed to ratify the trade agreement between the EU and the US agreed in July, because, according to the Parliament, the US has repeatedly violated the terms of the agreement and threatens its allies.

In its statement, Spain reminded that if the US administration wants to review the trade relationship with Spain, it must also respect the bilateral agreements between the EU and the US.