Trump was offended by Spain

ArmInfo. US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the US would sever trade relations with Spain. "We will stop all trade with Spain. We don't want to deal with Spain," Trump told reporters at the White House.

In particular, Trump criticized Spain's refusal last year to increase defense spending to 5%, as well as the fact that Spain refused to allow the US to use its bases for attacks on Iran.

Trump also expressed dissatisfaction with the UK, saying it took the US too long to obtain permission to use its military bases. "This isn't Winston Churchill," the US president added, referring to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

At the June NATO summit in The Hague, alliance countries committed to increasing defense spending from the current 2% to 5% of GDP by 2035.

Spain has sufficient resources to mitigate potential problems if trade relations with the United States are suspended, the Spanish government stated on Tuesday.

"Our country has sufficient resources to cope with the potential consequences, to support those economic sectors that may be affected, and to diversify exports," the government said in a statement, as quoted by the newspaper El País.

Meanwhile, Madrid noted that cutting off trade with Spain alone would be technically difficult, as trade issues in this case are handled by the EU rather than Spain itself.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump announced his decision to cut off trade with Spain. He cited his dissatisfaction with the Spanish leadership's actions, specifically its decision to ban the use of Spanish military bases for the operation against Iran.

Trump's reaction only fueled anti-American sentiment within the Spanish leadership and society. Irene Montero, a representative of the Spanish Podemos party, stated: "We demand withdrawal from NATO, because participation in a military alliance led by Trump makes us a military target. The war against Iran is being waged solely for oil and money. The United States and Israel are enemies of humanity."