Germany’s Merz lacked ‘solidarity’ amid silence during Trump attacks: Spain

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on Wednesday accused German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of failing to show “solidarity” with Madrid in the face of criticism from US President Donald Trump.Albares told broadcaster RTVE that he has communicated his “surprise” over Merz’s response to Trump’s tirade against Spain in a White House meeting on Tuesday.“When you share a currency, a common trade policy and a common market with another country, you expect the same solidarity that Spain showed towards Denmark, for example, when there were customs threats over the desire to remove Denmark’s territorial integrity in Greenland,” Albares said.The comments came after the US president said the Spanish government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, has been “terrible” during the escalating conflict in the Middle East.“Spain actually said we can’t use their bases,” Trump said, drawing silence from Merz.Trump said he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt “all deals” with Madrid. It was unclear which agreements Trump was referring to, but he further raised Spain’s opposition to raising defence spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product.