Responding to US President Donald Trump's threat to cut off trade, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Office said it was treating the remarks as ‘business as usual’.
“Our country enjoys excellent social, cultural, and economic relations with the US, and it is not our intention for that to change,” the prime minister’s office said in an official statement.
Earlier, a spokesperson for the Spanish government issued a similar statement, saying that the country “is responding to these remarks calmly and as a matter of course.” The spokesperson stressed that the two countries have an “excellent” relationship, noting the US runs a trade surplus with Spain.
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Donald Trump threatened to cut off trade ties with Spain, labeling the country a 'terrible partner' in NATO and expressing his desire to halt all trade with Spain.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that the country is treating Trump's remarks as 'business as usual' and emphasized Spain's excellent economic, social, and cultural relations with the US.
Trump's trade threat followed Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez's refusal to allow the US access to military bases for a campaign against Iran, which led to escalating tensions between the US and Spain.
Spain believes its relationship with the US is secure because economic ties are established by private companies rather than governments, and the US has a trade surplus with Spain.
This threat was not the first instance; Trump had previously directed his officials to cut off trade with Spain back in March, highlighting ongoing tensions over defense spending and military cooperation.
“Economic ties are built by private companies, not by governments,” the spokesperson added.
Speaking at a summit of NATO leaders in Ankara, Trump said he had ordered his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to cut off trade ties with Spain, calling Madrid a "terrible partner" in NATO.
"Spain is a wasted cause. We don't want to do any trade business with Spain anymore," Trump said. “By the way, I'd like to cut it off. 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, including visits.”
This is not the first time Trump has threatened to cut off economic ties with Spain. Back in March, he said he had directed Bessent to “cut off all trade with Spain.”
That came after Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez denied access to his country’s military bases for the US bombing campaign against Iran. Unlike some European leaders who have tried to placate Trump, Sánchez has found that his standing at home has benefited from criticising Trump’s actions.
Spain also faced criticism at the 2025 NATO summit, when Sánchez was the only leader from the alliance’s 32 countries to refuse to commit to a defense spending target of 5% of GDP. Spain increased defense spending from 1.42% of GDP in 2024 to 2% in 2025 and does not plan to raise it beyond 2.1%, even as other allies push for higher military spending.
Trump has not explained how he could follow through on his threats against Spain, given that Spain’s a member of the European Union, which oversees foreign trade for the entire bloc.
