The US president has described Spain as a “terrible partner” over its actions during the US-Israel war against Iran.
Published July 8, 2026
At a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Turkey’s capital Ankara, US President Donald Trump threatened to sever ties with Spain and insisted he still wanted Greenland.
“I’m very angry at NATO,” he told reporters Wednesday as he met with alliance chief Mark Rutte before the plenary session of the summit.
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“We’re not happy with NATO because of what NATO did with Greenland, and we’re not happy with the fact that NATO didn’t want to help us against Iran, which is the biggest sponsor of terrorism.”
President Trump singled out Spain in particular for his criticism, calling it a “terrible partner in NATO.”
“Spain is a useless cause and we don’t want to do any more trade with them,” he said, calling on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut ties”.
In March, Spain said it would not allow the United States to use joint military bases on its territory for operations against Iran and said it had closed its airspace to U.S. military aircraft involved in the war.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s office said in a statement that it was treating Trump’s comments as “business as usual” and had no intention of changing its “good” relationship with the United States.
The report notes that Spain has a trade deficit with the United States and that economic relations are built by private companies rather than the government, adding that individual European Union member states cannot be singled out for tariffs and unionization.
Meanwhile, the EU said it expects the US to honor its obligations under trade agreements with its 27 member institutions.
“Recall that we signed a joint statement with the United States last year. We expect the United States to honor its commitments under that joint statement, just as we have respected them,” European Commission spokesman Olof Gil said in a statement.
President Trump is still reeling from Europe’s reaction to Israel’s war against Iran, but he has not given up on his desire for Greenland, a territory of NATO member Denmark.
“Greenland is a big problem for us,” he told reporters, adding: “We need it to protect not just the United States, but the world… It won’t help Denmark, but it will help us.”
Rutte said the United States and Denmark remain committed to their agreement to discuss the possibility of expanding the U.S. presence on the Arctic island.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has previously insisted that Greenland is “not for sale”.
Gill added that the EU had said that “decisions about Greenland’s future are for Greenlanders and Danes to make.”
Washington’s NATO allies hope to use the Ankara summit to allay President Trump’s anger with Iran and show that he is following through on his pledge to increase defense spending.
President Trump said it was “unfair” that the US was spending “improperly” on NATO to protect Europe from Russia.
