US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday escalated President Donald Trump’s threat to halt trade with Spain, claiming that Madrid ‘endangered the lives of Americans’ by prohibiting Washington from using jointly operated military bases in Spain for an attack on Iran.
According to Politico, any policy that ‘slows our ability to fight this war in the quickest and most effective way’ poses a threat to Americans, Bessent stated in an interview with CNBC. He added that ‘the Spanish have been very uncooperative regarding US bases and what we could do with our planes exactly at the start of the operation.’
Madrid’s refusal to allow the US to use the Morón de la Frontera and Rota air bases for an attack on Iran this weekend prompted Trump to threaten ‘to cease all trade with Spain’ and consider imposing an embargo against the country on Tuesday.
A 1953 agreement with the US grants Spain the right to decide how American troops stationed on its territory will be used. The Trump administration could use claims that Madrid’s actions threatened Americans to justify imposing tariffs on Spain.
Bessent noted that the threats of economic sanctions reflect Trump’s ‘frustration’ with the government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. ‘They have been terrible players,’ he added.
The Treasury Secretary recalled Madrid’s refusal to yield to Washington’s demand that NATO members allocate 5 percent of their GDP to military spending, and criticized Spain for being a ‘free rider.’
‘The Spanish do not want to pay their fair share and say that there are the Pyrenees between them and Russia,’ Bessent said. ‘But the US has the Atlantic Ocean, and we are the largest contributors to NATO.’
