The President of the United States lashed out yesterday, Tuesday, with more force and rage than ever against Spain and the Government of Pedro Sánchez, threatening to “break all deals” or “relations”—depending on how his expression is translated—with Spain. “We want nothing to do with Spain,” he stated, even speaking of a possible “embargo” against an ally he described as “terrible” and “hostile” following Sánchez’s decision not to allow the use of U.S. bases in Morón and Rota for the bombings of Iran.
This disagreement deepens the rift opened after the last NATO summit, when the Spanish president—after signing the same document as the rest of the allies—explained that Spain was not going to increase defense spending to 5% and would limit its investment to 2.1%.
Since that clash at the NATO summit in The Hague last summer, Trump has spoken of “expelling” our country from the Atlantic Alliance or suggested that Spain was “likely deserving of economic and tariff retaliation.” However, this time he has been much more aggressive and forceful, stating that he had already ordered Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to take the necessary measures to punish Spain.
Pedro Sánchez has decided to become Donald Trump’s antagonist, aware of the many political rewards that this position offers him, and confident that this confrontation allows him to unify almost the entire investiture bloc and regroup the far left—which, in the case of Podemos, even demands an exit from NATO. His fervent defense of international legality would be more credible if it began by respecting national legality; for example, by presenting budgets for 2024 and 2025. This is a clear constitutional mandate—aside from an indisputable democratic custom—which he has failed to do, knowing it would be impossible for him to get them approved.
This public confrontation could be costly for Spain. In terms of accumulated capital stock, the U.S. is the top investor in our country, and its direct investment already fell by 53% in the first half of 2025 (from 3.1 billion euros in the first half of 2024 to 1.442 billion in the first half of 2025). Despite this, it accounted for 17% of foreign direct investment during that period. Spanish exports to the U.S. reach 16.716 billion euros annually. On the other hand, what Spain purchases from U.S. companies exceeds 30.174 billion euros.
