Trump Threatens to End U.S. Trade With Spain at NATO Summit; Spain Reports No Change in Relations

“We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore… I’d like you to cut it off,” Trump said. ” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was present during the remarks. The comments followed Spain’s refusal to allow U.S.

Forces to use bases at Morón and Rota for missions during the war against Iran and its decision not to raise defense spending to five percent of GDP. Mutual trade between the two countries totaled $75 billion in 2025, with the United States recording a $3 billion surplus, according to U.S. Congress figures.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that relations with the United States remained “very positive” and that he had spoken with Trump. “We talked about the World Cup… there was no tension whatsoever, on the contrary it was all very friendly,” Sánchez said.

Government sources in Madrid said Spain had no plan to alter its “excellent social, cultural, and economic relationship” with the United States.

Trump made a similar threat to cut trade with Spain in March over the same issues. Naval Station Rota, located on a 6,100-acre Spanish Navy facility in the province of Cádiz, serves as a key logistical hub with three operational piers and a 670-acre airfield, according to reporting by @TheWarZoneWire.

Destroyer Squadron 60 is based there, and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Oscar Austin arrived in 2024 as the first of two additional ships assigned to the Forward Deployed Naval Force-Europe.

MH-60R Seahawk helicopters from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 79 conducted bilateral exercises at the base on April 28, 2026.