From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Trump says US will cut all trade with Spain after its refusal to let bases be used for Iran strikes
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US President Donald Trump says the United States would cut off all trade with Spain after it refused to let the US military use its bases for missions linked to strikes on Iran.
“Spain has been terrible,” Trump tells reporters during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office, adding that he told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings” with Spain.
“We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” he adds.
Trump’s comments come after the US relocated 15 aircraft, including refuelling tankers, from the Rota and Moron military bases in southern Spain after the country’s Socialist leadership said it would not allow them to be used to attack Iran.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Spain would not allow its military bases to be used because the offensive was not covered by its agreement with the United States or in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
Ties between Spain and the United States have been strained over issues including migration and Spain’s refusal to commit to increasing the share of its spending on defense to 5 percent of its GDP, as most other European countries have done.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of a dwindling number of left-leaning voices in Europe, previously refused to let vessels transporting weapons to Israel dock in Spain.
He also wrote an op-ed in the New York Times in which he said “MAGA-style leaders” were fooling the public on the supposed evils of migration, in a reference to the pro-Trump movement.
The Times of Israel Community.