Washington, Mar 3 (EFE).- United States President Donald Trump slammed Spain after the Spanish Government prohibited the use of the Rota and Morón bases for the Iran war and threatened to “cut off all trade on Tuesday, during a bilateral meeting at the White House with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
”Spain has been terrible,” Trump told reporters, adding that he had told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings” with Spain.
”We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” he added.
Trump again criticized Spain for being the only NATO country that has not committed to increasing its defense spending, adding that it was now denying the US use of Rota (Cádiz) and Morón de la Frontera (Seville) bases for military operations against Iran.
“First of all, it started when every European nation, at my request, paid 5%, which they should be doing, and everybody was enthusiastic about it, Germany, everybody, and Spain didn’t do it. And now Spain actually said that we can’t use their bases.”
Trump also criticized the Spanish government, saying, “Spain has absolutely nothing that we need other than great people, (…) They have great people, but they don’t have great leadership.”
On Monday, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles reiterated that the agreement signed with Washington for the use of the bases allows for operations within the framework of international law, but not when an army acts unilaterally.
In statements to the media at the Armilla base (Granada), Robles said Spain is “totally against violence” and insisted that the bases will not provide support unless it becomes necessary from a humanitarian perspective.
Regarding the departure of US tanker aircraft from Andalusian bases, Robles asserted that “they have not carried out, nor will they carry out, any maintenance or support operations.”
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated that Spain had “the final say” on the matter and added: “We will not lend our bases for anything that is not in the treaty or compatible with the UN Charter.”
EFE
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