The U.S. president expressed frustration after Spain and the UK blocked U.S. forces from using their bases to strike Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump said March 3 that he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to sever trade relations with Spain after the country’s leaders blocked the use of their military bases for U.S. forces.
“Spain actually said that we can’t use their bases,” Trump said during a bilateral White House meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “We could use their base if we want. We could just fly in and use it. Nobody’s going to tell us not to use it, but we don’t have to. But they were unfriendly, and so I told them, we don’t want to.”
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Telecinco on March 2 that U.S. forces could not use Spanish bases to support ongoing operations against Iran.
“Spanish bases are not being used for this operation, and they will not be used for anything not included in the agreement with the United States or for anything that is not in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,” Albares said.
During Tuesday’s Oval Office meeting, Trump repeatedly expressed frustration with Spain’s basing decision and Madrid’s reluctance to increase Spain’s defense spending commitment to NATO.
“We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” Trump said.
The president said he’s also grown increasingly frustrated with the UK.
In an interview with The Telegraph on March 2, Trump said he was “very disappointed” with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer following reports that the UK had blocked the use of Diego Garcia for U.S. strikes on Iran.
Reuters contributed to this report.
This is a developing news report and will be updated with additional details.
By Ryan Morgan
