Trump harshly attacked Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government at the NATO summit in AnkaraImage: keystone
US President Donald Trump found words of praise for Spain’s government after the row at the NATO summit in Ankara.
Jul 9, 2026, 6:32 amJul 9, 2026, 6:32 am
There are still problems with countries like Spain, said Trump on the flight back to Washington. “But Spain made an impressive comeback today.” Asked why, Trump said the government had complied with the request for a larger payment. “And if they hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t even be talking to them anymore.”
Trump harshly attacked Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government at the NATO summit in Ankara and announced a severance of trade relations. He justified this by saying that Spain rejected NATO’s target of five percent of gross domestic product for defense spending and had refused the USA bases in the Iran war.
At the end of the summit, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) had already said that Sánchez had assured that his government was “now really making the greatest efforts.” This was “also met with great approval from Trump in the meeting”. (sda/dpa)