‘Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate, they don’t pay,’ the U.S. leader stated.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an immediate halt to all trade, including visits with Spain, criticizing Madrid’s lack of participation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

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“Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore,” he said at the NATO summit in Ankara.

The U.S. president then publicly directed his administration to sever trade ties. Turning to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump said: “Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate, they don’t pay. I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, including visits.”

Madrid recently declined to meet NATO’s new 5 percent gross domestic product (GDP) defense spending target and has refused to allow the United States to utilize its airspace or territory for operations during the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Donald Trump cut off all trade with Spain and that could seriously impact the price of olive oil.

Spain produces 40% of the world’s olive oil and about 180,000 metric tons/year to the U.S.

That is all about to change with the recent trade conflict.

What was expensive… pic.twitter.com/UuFUYTKcaq

— CoinForge (@Realcoinforge) July 8, 2026

On Wednesday, Antonio Bonet, president of the Spanish Exporters and Investors Club, reacted to the U.S. president’s threats by calling for “calm and institutional dialogue.”

Bonet reminded everyone that Spain is part of the European single market, so any measure “would affect the entire bloc” and, at the same time, any response should be adopted jointly from Brussels.

“Only trade diplomacy can prevent a deterioration of the U.S.-Spain relations,” he said, adding that such a move would have “unforeseeable consequences” for both economies.

Specifically, the Spanish products most affected by a trade rupture would be olive oil, wine, Iberian ham, black olives, machinery, and capital goods. On the other side, the supply of U.S. liquefied natural gas would be at risk.

teleSUR/ JF

Sources: Xinhua – EFE

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