Spain’s health minister has hit back after Donald Trump branded the country ‘a terrible partner’ and threatened to cut all trade ties over its refusal to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP.
Monica Garcia accused the US president of resorting to ‘blackmail’ and ‘threats’, insisting her country would not bow to pressure from Washington.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Garcia wrote: ‘Trump calls Spain a ‘terrible partner’ because it accepts neither blackmail nor threats.
‘Because we are a sovereign, democratic country that defends multilateralism and peace.
‘Terrible is to confuse diplomacy with thuggery.’
Her comments came just hours after Trump launched a fresh attack on Spain during the NATO summit in Ankara, calling the country ‘a lost cause’ and ordering Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt all trade with Spain.
Trump claimed Spain was failing its NATO allies by refusing to commit to spending 5% of GDP on defence, despite Madrid arguing it can meet the alliance’s military capability targets without such a dramatic increase in expenditure.
The White House has not provided any details on how Trump’s proposed trade measures would be implemented.
The US president does not have the unilateral authority to end all trade with Spain without following domestic legal procedures.
Spain has so far stood by its position, arguing that it remains committed to NATO while rejecting what it sees as arbitrary spending targets.
