U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, March 3 that the United States would cut off all trade with Spain after Spain refused to allow U.S. forces to use its military bases to conduct missions related to strikes on Iran.
According to Reuters, Trump made the remarks to reporters during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “Spain has been behaving very badly,” Trump said. He also revealed that he had instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to sever all dealings with Spain.
“We are going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want to have anything to do with Spain anymore,” Trump said.
Earlier, after Spain’s socialist government said it would not permit its military bases to be used for operations against Iran, the United States withdrew 15 military aircraft — including aerial refueling tankers — from the Rota and Morón bases in southern Spain.
Trump again criticized Spain for refusing to comply with the U.S. demand that all NATO members raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. “Spain absolutely has nothing that we need,” he said.
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Treasury Secretary Bessent said he would instruct the Office of the United States Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce to launch investigative procedures to study how punitive measures could be imposed on Spain.
Spain responds
The Spanish government issued a statement saying the United States should respect the autonomy of private enterprises, international law, and the bilateral trade agreements signed between the United States and the European Union.
Madrid said Spain has the necessary resources to cope with the potential impact of a trade embargo and to provide support to affected industries. Spain will also continue to promote free trade and economic cooperation with its partners.
Spain is the world’s largest exporter of olive oil and also exports auto parts, steel, and chemical products to the United States.
German Chancellor Merz said Europe is also pressuring Spain internally over defense spending. “We are working to persuade Spain to increase its defense spending to the 3 percent or 3.5 percent level that we have agreed upon within NATO,” he said.
“As the president said, that is correct. Spain is the only country unwilling to accept this target. We are persuading them — this is part of our shared security, and we all must adhere to these numbers.”
In addition, on March 2, Trump told The Telegraph that he was very disappointed in British Prime Minister Keir Starmer after reports said the UK had blocked the United States from using Diego Garcia to launch strikes on Iran.
About an hour after Starmer announced Sunday night that he would allow the U.S. to use the base, an Iranian “Shahed” one-way attack drone struck the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus. No casualties were reported, but the UK Ministry of Defence later evacuated military families from the base.
Although Starmer has said he supports “destroying Iran’s offensive capabilities at the source,” he has not authorized British forces to join the U.S.-Israel offensive.
By Gao Yun
