US President Donald Trump used the Nato summit in Ankara to lash out again at fellow member Spain, and revive his interest in taking over Greenland. Speaking as Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte looked on, Trump said he wanted to cut off all trade relations with Spain, condemning his European ally as a “wasted cause” and “terrible partner in Nato”.
He also called Nato’s resistance to his plan for Greenland to belong to the US, rather than Denmark, as “a big problem for us”.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez later insisted that relations with the US were “very positive”, and that he had had an informal chat with Trump.
“We talked about the World Cup… there was no tension whatsoever, on the contrary it was all very friendly,” said Sánchez.
Government sources in Madrid said earlier that Spain was responding to Trump’s message calmly and patiently, and had no intention of changing their “excellent social, cultural, and economic relationship”.
However, Trump has clearly not forgiven Sánchez’s Socialist-led government for not allowing the US to use bases at Morón and Rota for missions as part of the war against Iran.
Trump has also been frustrated by Sánchez’s refusal to increase Spain’s defence spending to 5% of its economic output (GDP) which he has called “unreasonable but also counterproductive”. Spain spent 2% of GDP on defence in 2025.
Back in March, Trump made the same threat to halt trade relations using very similar language, and at the time Sánchez responded by laying out his position as “no to war”.
There was no change to trade afterwards, and Madrid sources pointed out that last year the US had a trade surplus with Spain. According to US Congress figures, mutual trade was worth $75bn (£56bn) in 2025, and the US made $3bn more from the relationship than Spain.
The EU has pledged its support for Spain’s position, with European Commission spokesman Olof Gill saying that trade between the EU and US was “deeply integrated and mutually beneficial”.
“The Commission will always ensure that the interests of the European Union and all our member states are fully protected,” he said, reminding reporters of an EU-US trade agreement signed last year that set tariffs on trade imports.
More broadly, Trump complained on Wednesday that his Nato allies “weren’t there for us, and we’ve been there for them”, asserting that the US had spent over $1tn “over the last short period in order to protect these countries from Russia”.
He repeated his statement that the US needed Greenland – a semi-autonomous Danish territory – for its own protection, as it was “very important to the United States, but it’s not important for Denmark”.
The leaders of Greenland and Denmark have repeatedly made clear the territory is “not for sale” and that was restated by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Wednesday, while the European Commission made clear “decisions on Greenland were for Greenlanders and Danes to decide”.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said later that Trump may have raised the issue with reporters, but it had not been mentioned during talks inside the room.
All 32 Nato member states pledged their commitment to the Alliance’s Article Five mutual defence clause, and Mark Rutte later told reporters the meeting had been tremendously successful.
By BBC News
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