Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez once again criticised the US and Israel’s military actions in Iran, standing firm on Wednesday against fresh trade threats from Washington and warning that the Iran war risked “playing Russian roulette” with millions of lives.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to end US trade with Spain because of Spain’s refusal to allow the US to use joint military bases in the country in its attacks on Iran.
“We are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and is also contrary to our values and interests, just out of fear of reprisals from someone,” Mr Sanchez said in a televised address.
It is not clear how Mr Trump would cut off trade with Spain, a European Union member. The EU negotiates trade on behalf of all its 27 members.
Despite Spain’s refusal, Mr Trump has said “we could use their base if we want”, referencing two military bases in southern Spain that the US and Spain share, but which remain under Spanish command.
“We could just fly in and use it,” Mr Trump said. “Nobody’s going to tell us not to use it, but we don’t have to.”
Mr Trump told reporters during a White House meeting with German chancellor Friedrich Merz that Spain “has been terrible”, adding he had told Treasury secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings” with Madrid.
“We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” he added.
The threats from Washington were just the latest instance of the US president wielding the threat of tariffs or trade embargoes as punishment.
The US Supreme Court last month struck down Mr Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs, saying emergency powers do not allow the president to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs.
However, Mr Trump maintains that the court allows him to instead impose full-scale embargoes on other nations of his choosing.
Spain’s position on the Iran conflict marks the latest flare-up in its relationship with the Trump administration. Spain was also an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Mr Sanchez has called the US and Israeli attacks on Iran an “unjustifiable” and “dangerous” military intervention.
On Wednesday, the Spanish leader also referenced the Iraq war and its negative consequences in terms of generating more jihadi extremism.
“In short, the position of the government of Spain can be summarised in four words,” Mr Sanchez said. “No to the war.”
Mr Merz later revealed to reporters that he told Mr Trump privately that Spain could not be excluded from a trade agreement reached between Brussels and Washington last year.
“I said that Spain is a member of the European Union and we negotiate about tariffs with the United States only together or not at all,” he said. “There is no way to treat Spain particularly badly.”
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
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