Spain PM hits back at Donald Trump trade threat after his refusal to aid military intervention

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has hit back strongly in response to Donald Trump’s threat to end trade with his country.

The US President has threatened to impose a full trade embargo on Spain following Madrid’s refusal to allow them to use the jointly-run bases at Morón and Rotafor.

This would be to enable further strikes on Iran after a joint US mission with Israel killed the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and started war across the Middle East.

Trump pledged to “cut off all ties” with Spain and described the country as “terrible” adding that America didn’t want “anything to do with Spain”.

Hitting back in a 10-minute TV address, Mr Sánchez called the attack on Iran a “breakdown of international law” insisting the Spanish government’s position on what he labelled an “unjustified and dangerous military intervention”.could be summed up as: “no to war”.

Then looking back to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, he referenced the “Azores trio” of then-US President George W. Bush, the UK’s Tony Blair and Spanish conservative leader José María Aznar – who had met on a Spanish base in the region days before the Iraqi attack.

He reminded the country that it had failed to achieve its goals and had made life worse for ordinary people, and he warned that the attacks on Iran could have a similar economic impact for millions.

Calling for “errors of the past” not to be repeated, he said:“You cannot answer one illegality with another, because that is how the great catastrophes of humanity begin,” before announcing that he wanted to express the solidarity of the Spanish people with countries that had been “illegally attacked by the Iranian regime”.

In Spain’s deeply polarised politics, much of the support for Sánchez is driven as much by concerns about the country’s right and far right as it is by endorsement of his leadership and policies, so standing up to Trump could potentially have electoral benefits for the Socialist leader.

Spain were not the only nation to be heavily criticised by the US President. The UK also initially refused the Americans permission to use their military base in Diego Garcia on the Chagos Islands, prompting Trump to call the decision “shocking” before adding “this is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”

However, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer later backtracked and allowed use of the base, saying that the situation had “changed” after Iran’s “outrageous” response became “a threat to our people, our interests and our allies.”