{"id":2575598,"date":"2026-03-03T13:12:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-threatens-to-cut-off-all-trade-dealings-with-spain\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T13:13:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:13:14","slug":"trump-threatens-to-cut-off-all-trade-dealings-with-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-threatens-to-cut-off-all-trade-dealings-with-spain\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump threatens to cut off all trade dealings with Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-threatens-to-cut-off-all-trade-dealings-with-spain%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2575598&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Former President Donald Trump said he would cut off all U.S. trade with Spain in response to Spain\u2019s opposition to increasing NATO defence spending and its refusal to allow the U.S.to use Spanish bases for strikes against Iran. He made the remarks during a bilateral meeting with German official Friedrich Merz. Trump claimed Spain told him the U.S. could still use their bases if needed, a claim contradicted by Spain\u2019s socialist Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez and Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, who denied permission to use the bases during Operation Epic Fry.Trump argued Spain should raise its NATO defense spending from 2% to 5%, while Merz supported higher spending and said Spain needed to meet the 3%\u20133.5% military target (with about 1.5% for infrastructure). S\u00e1nchez criticized <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-time-to-trade-bidens-feeble-iran-strategy-for-escalation-dominance\/\" title=\"Swap Biden&#039;s weak ... strategy for escalation dominance.\">unilateral military action<\/a> by the U.S. and Israel and warned against another prolonged war in the Middle East.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump threatens to cut off all trade dealings with Spain<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2521804\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"4\">Donald Trump<\/a> threatened to cut off all U.S. trade dealings with <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/spain\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1864\">Spain<\/a> in response to the European nation&rsquo;s opposition to increasing <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nato\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"603\">NATO<\/a> defense spending and its refusal to allow the United States to use its base during strikes against <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/iran\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"100\">Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Spain has been terrible. In fact, I told Scott (Bessent) to cut off all dealings with Spain,&rdquo; Trump said during a Tuesday bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4478465\/trump-denies-israel-forced-us-attack-iran\/\">Trump denies Israel &#8216;forced&#8217; US to attack Iran: &#8216;I might have forced Israel&#8217;s hand&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4476674\/trump-regime-insider-more-appropriate-lead-iran-than-reza-pahlavi\/\">Trump says regime insider &#8216;more appropriate&#8217; to lead Iran than Reza Pahlavi<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4478183\/watch-live-donald-trump-hosts-freidrich-merz-iran-conflict\/\">WATCH LIVE: Trump hosts Friedrich Merz amid Iran conflict<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;And now Spain actually said that we can&rsquo;t use their bases, and that&rsquo;s all right. We could use their base if we want. We could just fly in and use it. Nobody&rsquo;s going to tell us not to use it,&rdquo; Trump added.<\/p>\n<p>Spain&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/spains-catalonia-region-to-impose-very-restrictive-curfew-despite-protests-from-public-prosecutor\/\" title=\"...&#039;s Catalonia Region to Impose \u2018Very Restrictive\u2019 Curfew Despite Protests from Public Prose...or\">socialist prime minister<\/a>, Pedro Sanchez, and Jose Manuel Albares, Spain&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/off-to-a-bad-start-putin-schools-biden-with-one-phone-call\/\" title=\"Off to a Bad START: Putin Schools Biden with One Phone Call\">foreign minister<\/a>, denied the U.S. permission to use their <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >jointly operated military bases<\/a> during Operation Epic Fry.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We reject the unilateral military action by the United States and Israel, which represents an escalation and contributes to a more uncertain and hostile international order,&rdquo; Sanchez <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/sanchezcastejon\/status\/2027707726738923754\">wrote on X<\/a>. &ldquo;We cannot afford another prolonged and devastating war in the Middle East.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump was particularly incensed that Spain had not increased its defense spending in NATO to 5%, up from the 2% previously negotiated. Spain is the only member of the alliance that has not agreed to the 5% spending target.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They were the only country that, in NATO, would not agree to go up to 5%,&rdquo; said Trump. &ldquo;They wanted to keep it at 2% and they don&rsquo;t pay the 2%, so we were going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don&rsquo;t want anything to do with Spain.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4477957\/threat-iran-retaliation-across-middle-east-embassies-airports\/\">THREAT FROM IRANIAN RETALIATION STRIKES SPREADS ACROSS MIDDLE EAST, TARGETING EMBASSIES AND AIRPORTS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Merz agreed with Trump that Spain must increase its defense spending.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are trying to convince Spain to catch up with the 3% or 3.5%, which we agree on in NATO. And as the president said, it&rsquo;s correct, Spain is the only one who is not willing to accept that,&rdquo; Merz said. &ldquo;And we are trying to convince them that this is part of our common security, that we all have to comply with these numbers. And this is 3.5 for military and another 1.5 for our military infrastructure. So Spain has to comply with that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump vows to end all US trade with Spain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2658,"featured_media":2575599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26062607335834.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[3817,11648,7221,3634],"class_list":["post-2575598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-diplomacy","tag-spain","tag-trade","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26062607335834.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2575598"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2575602,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575598\/revisions\/2575602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2575599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2575598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2575598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2575598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}