Sánchez says US-Spain ties positive after Trump threat to cut trade

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Wednesday his country’s ties with the United States were “very positive” despite President Donald Trump’s latest threat to cut off all trade.

Trump has repeatedly accused Spain of not spending enough on defence, calling the country a “terrible partner in NATO” at an alliance summit in Ankara on Wednesday.

“Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore,” Trump said.

Sánchez responded at a post-summit press conference: “Relations between the United States and Spain are very positive relations in social, cultural, economic and also political terms.”

Any bid to impose trade restrictions on Spain would be complicated as it is a member of the European Union, which allows goods to move freely between its 27 countries.

It is unclear what power Trump would have to end trade with Spain, after the US Supreme Court struck down his use of emergency powers to impose arbitrary tariffs.

Sánchez said he held “an informal chat” with Trump in Ankara about football and “there was absolutely no kind of tension.”

“On the contrary, everything was kind words and friendliness,” he said.

The Socialist leader also reeled off a list of Spain’s contributions to NATO and Ukraine that he said demonstrated the fulfilment of its commitments, including raising defence spending to 2% of GDP.

Clashes with Trump and Israel have made Sánchez, one of the few remaining openly leftist voices in a Europe increasingly dominated by right-wing politics, a hero to many progressives around the world.

In March, Trump also threatened to sever all trade ties with Spain after Madrid refused to let US planes use its bases to attack Iran.

Sánchez found himself in US crosshairs at last year’s NATO summit for refusing to join allies in a pledge to boost defence spending to five percent of GDP as demanded by Trump.

He has called Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide and has condemned the US military operation in January that captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

Additional sources • AFP

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