From left: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
key takeaways:
- President Donald Trump called for an end to US trade with Spain during a NATO summit with Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Ankara on July 8.
- Trump cited Spain’s refusal to support the Iran conflict and its low defense spending, while Spain emphasized strong bilateral relations and the US trade surplus.
- Spain and the European Commission indicated they expected existing trade agreements to remain in place, even as markets reacted and Trump has not explained how such cuts would work.
President Donald Trump once again called for ending trade with Spain over what he described as its lack of support for the war in Iran and its failure to meet NATO commitments.
Sitting next to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on July 8 in Ankara, where the military alliance’s leaders were holding their annual summit, Trump said, “Spain is a vain cause.” “We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore.”
“I would like you to cut it off,” Trump said, turning to Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who was also in the room. “Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate, they don’t pay. I don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
Spain’s IBEX stock index fell 2.1% after Trump’s comments.
Minutes after Trump’s remarks, a spokesman for the Spanish government said the country was “reacting calmly and naturally to these comments.” The spokesperson stressed that the two countries have “excellent” relations, noting that the US runs a trade surplus with Spain.
.@POTUS: “Spain is a vanity cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore… Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate, they don’t pay. I don’t want anything to do with Spain.” pic.twitter.com/3prqux6p54
– Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) 8 July 2026
“Economic ties are created by private companies, not by governments,” the spokesperson said.
This is not the first time Trump has threatened to break economic ties with Spain. Back in March, he said he had instructed Besant to “cease all trade with Spain”.
This came as Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez denied access to his country’s military bases for the US bombing campaign against Iran. Unlike some European leaders who have tried to appease Trump, Sanchez has found that criticizing Trump’s actions has benefited his standing at home.
Spain also faced criticism at the 2025 NATO summit, when Sanchez was the only leader among the alliance’s 32 countries to refuse a defense spending target of 5% of GDP. Spain has increased defense spending from 1.42% of GDP in 2024 to 2% in 2025 and does not plan to increase it by more than 2.1%, even though other allies are pushing for higher military spending.
Rutte tried to credit Trump for protecting Spain and increasing the country’s defense spending.
“You even asked Spain to pay 2%,” he said, referring to the coalition’s prior spending target. “They took a big step forward last year. There are some issues we have to solve, but Spain also reached 2%.”
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Trump has not explained how he might follow through on his threats toward Spain, given that it is a member of the European Union, which oversees foreign trade matters for the entire bloc. However, he has suggested that the US President could impose a complete embargo on goods from any country.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, said the EU has a trade deal with the US, which was recently approved.
“We expect the US to respect its commitments,” commission spokesman Olof Gil told reporters in Brussels. He described transatlantic economic relations as “mutually beneficial”.
