Trump threatens to halt trade with Spain over military base access

2 hours agoDanielle KayeBusiness reporterWatch: Trump lashes out at Spain and says he is "going to cut off all trade"US President Donald Trump has threatened to halt all trade with Spain, after the country barred the US from using its military bases as part of its operation in Iran.In comments at the White House, Trump said Spain had been "terrible" and suggested "we're going to cut off all trade". "We don't want anything to do with Spain," he told reporters. It is unclear whether the Trump administration will follow through on the threat, or how officials would move to block trade with a European Union member state.Trump's comments add to existing tensions between the two countries, including over the Spanish government's resistance to Trump's demand for NATO allies to raise their defence spending."I could tomorrow - or today, even better - stop everything having to do with Spain, all business having to do with Spain," Trump said on Tuesday.Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent both claimed that the US can legally place an embargo on products imported from Spain.But US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was non-committal when asked by the president for his view on the plan."We're going to talk about it with you," Greer said."You have the strong power that the Supreme Court clarified - we know you can use it. And if you need to use it to assure national and economic security, we'll do it."The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the trade threat.On Tuesday, Trump also expressed frustration with the Spanish government for refusing to increase its defence spending to 5% of its gross domestic product, in contrast to many other European countries that have acquiesced. Trump has previously suggested that Spain should face economic punishments.The European Union allows goods to move freely between the 27 countries in the economic bloc, which would complicate any bid to impose trade restrictions on a single member state.The Spanish government said that if the US administration wants to review its trade relationship Spain, it must respect the autonomy of private companies, international law and bilateral agreements between the EU and the US.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who met Trump on Tuesday, said he told the president that Spain is part of the EU - and that any trade deals with the bloc must include Spain.In 2025, the US exported roughly $26bn worth of goods to Spain and imports from the country amounted to about $21bn, according to data from the US Census Bureau. Spain's top exports to the US include pharmaceutical products and olive oil.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, currently one of Europe's few left-leaning leaders, on Sunday called the US and Israel's attacks on Iran an "unjustified, dangerous military intervention" in violation of international law.Officials in Madrid said they would bar the US from using military bases in southern Spain as part of the operation, arguing that doing so would violate the United Nations charter.Trump also criticised the UK for being "very uncooperative" with his push to use military bases to attack Iran. But he did not make an explicit threat to impose trade restrictions on the country.Watch: Footage from across Iran shows scale of strikes