Trump orders complete ‘trade cutoff’ with Spain: Here’s why

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he ordered his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to completely cut off all trade with Spain.

Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte prior to the defence alliance summit in Ankara, Trump slammed Spain as “a terrible partner in NATO.”

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The US surprising decision to revoke all trade with Madrid stems from its inability to meet defence spending criteria, which is 5 percent of GDP set by President Trump.

“Spain doesn't agree to anything, and you shouldn't carry them," ​Trump told Rutte.

“Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate. They don’t pay. I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits,” he said at a press conference in Ankara.

“Don’t even talk to them. They’re hopeless, bad people. They make so much money with us, and we're going to see that they make a lot less. ​I want no ​business with ⁠them,” the president added.

Madrid is bearing the brunt of Trump’s ire as the country has not agreed to NATO’s new defence spending target. Moreover, its Socialist leadership refused to be involved in the Iran war by not letting the US use its bases and airspace.

The United States holds a military footprint through two important military bases in Spain: Naval Station Rota ​and Moron Air Base.

The move could be seen as Trump’s efforts to punish allies who did not help the country in its conflict with Iran as confirmed by a US official who spoke to Reuters in April 2026, stating an internal Pentagon email detailed potential retaliatory measures against NATO allies.