ANKARA, Turkey — President Trump threatened Wednesday to cut off “all trade” and tourism with Spain — citing Madrid’s refusal to boost military spending and its restrictions on US operations during the Iran war.
“Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore,” Trump declared at a press availability alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte ahead of a day of meetings at the alliance’s annual summit.
“Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate, they don’t pay. I don’t want to have anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits… Watch them come running back,” said the president.
“We don’t have to trade with them. I don’t want to do any more trade with them, alright? Immediately. Don’t talk to them, they’re hopeless, bad people.”
“Let’s see how hostile they remain when they call up and they [say], ‘Please, please. We want to trade with you, sir. We want to trade with you, sir,’” Trump 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.”
In response, the office of Spanish socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who attended a group dinner alongside Trump Tuesday night in the Turkish capital, downplayed the comments “as a matter of routine” and added that Madrid “maintains an excellent social, cultural, and economic relationship with the US, and we have no intention of seeing that change.”
Sánchez’s office also pointed out that the US currently runs a trade surplus with Spain, sending the European nation more goods than it takes in, and noted that the Brussels-based European Union handles economic relations on behalf of its 27 member nations.
The White House and Treasury Department did not immediately release additional information about possible actions against Spain, and it was not immediately clear how Trump might impose business or travel restrictions.
Trump has significant powers to temporarily impose tariffs, though a Supreme Court ruling in February curtailed his authority, and any long-term actions against Spain would likely face legal challenges.
An imposition of travel restrictions would be even more exceptional, as nearly 4.5 million Americans visited Spain last year. Currently, the US government only bans Americans from traveling to North Korea.
