Trump says at NATO summit he has ordered cutoff of US trade with Spain
US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the NATO leaders’ summit at the Bestepe Presidential Compound, joined by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Ankara, Türkiye, on Jul 8, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
ANKARA: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (Jul 8) at a NATO summit that he had ordered his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to cut off all trade with Spain, calling Madrid a “terrible partner” in the alliance.
Trump, speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the start of the summit in Ankara, said he wanted no business with Spain.
Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with Spain, which has not agreed to NATO’s new defence spending target of 5 per cent of GDP and whose Socialist leadership refused to let the US use its airspace or bases on its territory for the Iran war.
“Spain doesn’t agree to anything, and you shouldn’t carry them,” Trump told Rutte.
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
“I don’t want to do any trade with them, alright?” he said, turning to Bessent, who replied: “Yes, sir.”
“Take it immediately, don’t even talk to them. They’re hopeless. They’re bad people,” he added. “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 United States has two important military bases in Spain: Naval Station Rota and Moron Air Base.
An internal Pentagon email outlined options for the United States to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support US operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain from the alliance, a US official told Reuters in April.
Source: Reuters/rk
Sign up for our newsletters
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
About The Author
