Donald Trump loves a fight, until he gets paid. Hours after threatening to completely choke off trade with Spain, the U.S. President suddenly sang a different tune aboard Air Force One. The reason? Madrid finally showed him the money.
It was a whiplash moment. At the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump publicly trashed Spain as a “terrible partner” over defense spending disagreements and geopolitical friction regarding Iran. He ordered an immediate halt to all bilateral trade. But on his flight back to Washington, the bluster vanished. Trump told reporters that Spain had “honored a request for lots of payments,” adding that without the cash, “we wouldn’t have even talked to them.”
Madrid played it cool. A spokesperson for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez indicated that Trump was mollified by Spain finally hitting NATO’s defense spending target of 2% of GDP. Sanchez had pointed out at the summit that Spain’s defense budget more than doubled from a meager 0.98% of GDP in 2017 to nearly €33 billion ($37.7 billion) this year. Sanchez brushed off the drama, claiming he and Trump had a “very cordial” chat.
Still, the peace is fragile. Trump remains furious that Spain refuses to sign up for a new 5% GDP defense spending target by 2035. Spain’s left-wing coalition argues that spending money just to hit arbitrary targets is foolish, especially when it threatens domestic social programs.
Whether Trump’s sudden change of heart actually kills his trade embargo threat remains to be seen. In Washington, a U.S. official confirmed to Reuters that federal agencies are still drafting a “menu” of Spanish goods to target. Trade lawyers note that Trump could easily use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to freeze Spanish imports. It wouldn’t be his first strike; his administration previously slapped a 30% tariff on Spanish black olives back in 2018.
Back in Madrid, officials are treating the whole episode as political theater. Sources within the Spanish delegation told El Mundo that the spat was a staged fight with no real teeth, noting that U.S. investment in Spain hasn’t suffered despite Trump’s constant Twitter-style diplomacy.
Naturally, Sanchez’s domestic rivals smelled blood. Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far-right Vox party and a vocal Trump admirer, called the diplomatic spat “absolutely dramatic” and accused the Prime Minister of ruining Spain’s global reputation. Meanwhile, the mainstream opposition People’s Party (PP) backed the government, pointing out that economic reality and massive corporate interdependence—like Amazon and Microsoft investing billions in Aragon’s data centers—will always triumph over Trump’s loud mouth.
