Trump Orders U.S. To Cut All Trade With Spain At NATO Summit In Ankara

President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. to cut all trade with Spain during a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, and told reporters, "Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits," while calling Spain "a wasted cause."

Trump said Spain "doesn't participate, they don't pay" and appeared to reference Spain's refusal to commit to investing 5% of GDP annually on defense by 2035 after other member states agreed to the target at last year's summit.

Al Jazeera

The dispute is tied to Spain denying U.S. forces access to joint military bases for offensive operations against Iran and closing its airspace to American aircraft involved in the conflict, according to TIME.

Spanish Health Minister Mónica García rebuked Trump, saying, "Terrible is to confuse diplomacy with thuggery."

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchezemerged as a vocal critic of the U.S. over the Iran fallout, and Anadolu Ajansı reported he said Madrid seeks to maintain the "best possible relations" with all countries, particularly allies such as the US.

Sánchez downplayed the renewed threats and said Spain would respond "with calm and patience" to Trump’s comments during a press briefing on the last day of the Ankara summit.

Anadolu Ajansı

Anadolu Ajansı also quoted Sánchez saying any decision about U.S. troop deployments was Washington’s "sovereign decision" and added that military cooperation between the two countries remains "excellent."

In response to Trump’s pointed criticism, TIME reported a Spanish government source said, "our country maintains a magnificent social, cultural, and economic relationship with the U.S.A and it is not our intention that this will change."

Trump linked his trade threat to NATO defense spending, saying he was referencing Spain's refusal to commit to investing 5% of GDP annually on defense by 2035 after other member states agreed to the target at last year's summit.

In a separate account, Florida’s Voice said Trump highlighted an agreement from last year’s summit to raise the benchmark from 2% to 5% of GDP, and he called it an "unprecedented achievement."

Florida’s Voice also reported Trump announced "$3 billion of new defense investments with U.S. companies" during the summit in Turkey and urged nations to accelerate plans to reach the 5% target.

TIME reported that the European Commission deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill said, "we expect the U.S. to honor its commitments... as we have honored ours," as the EU trade deal with the U.S. came into effect on July 1.