Trump threatens Spain trade, demands US take over Greenland at NATO summit

The US president described Spain as a ‘terrible partner’ over its actions during the US-Israel war on Iran.

United States President Donald Trump has threatened to cut ties with Spain and insists he still wants Greenland, as NATO leaders met for a summit in the Turkish capital Ankara.

“I’m very upset with NATO,” he told reporters on Wednesday as he met alliance chief Mark Rutte before the main summit session.

“I’m not happy with NATO because of what they did with Greenland, and I’m not happy with NATO because of the fact that they didn’t want to help us with the number one state sponsor of terror, that’s Iran.”

Trump singled out Spain for particular criticism, calling it a “terrible partner in NATO”.

“Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain any more,” he said, asking Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut it off”.

In March, Spain said the US would not be allowed to use joint military bases on its territory for operations against Iran and closed its airspace to US planes involved in the war.

The office of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a statement it was treating Trump’s statements as “business as usual” and did not intend to change the “excellent” relations it enjoyed with Washington.

It pointed out that Spain had ⁠a trade deficit with the US and that economic ties were forged by private companies rather than governments, adding that as part ⁠of the customs and trade union, individual European Union members could not be singled out.

Meanwhile, the EU said it expected the US to honour its trade deal obligations with the 27-member body.

“I remind you that ⁠we signed a joint ⁠statement with the US last year. We expect the US to honour its commitments under that joint ⁠statement, as we have honoured ours,” European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said in a statement.

While Trump is still smarting from Europe’s response to his war with Israel on Iran, he still has not dropped his desire for NATO member Denmark’s territory of Greenland.

“Greenland is a big problem for us,” he told reporters, adding: “We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States… It doesn’t help Denmark, but it helps us.”

Rutte said the US and Denmark would stick to a deal to hold talks over potentially increasing the US footprint on the Arctic island.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen earlier insisted that Greenland is “not for sale”.

Gill added that the EU said “decisions about the future of Greenland are for Greenlanders and Danes.”

Washington’s NATO allies want to use the Ankara summit to lessen Trump’s ire over Iran and show they are making good on their pledge to ramp up defence spending.

Trump said it was “unfair” that the US was spending “disproportionately” in NATO to help protect Europe from Russia.