Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez gestures throughout a press convention on the Moncloa Palace in Madrid on December 15, 2025.
Thomas Coex | Afp | Getty Photos
Spain has pushed again in opposition to the White Home’s declare that it agreed to cooperate militarily with Washington amid the battle with Iran, doubling down on its anti-war stance regardless of the U.S. president’s menace to sever commerce ties.
White Home spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stated on Wednesday that Madrid’s place of refusing to permit the nation’s navy bases for use within the ongoing Iran battle had now modified.
“With respect to Spain, I feel they heard the president’s message yesterday loud and clear, and it is my understanding, over the previous a number of hours, they’ve agreed to cooperate with the U.S. navy,” Leavitt informed reporters.
“The president expects all of our European allies, in fact, to cooperate on this lengthy sought-after mission, not only for the US but additionally for Europe, to crush the rogue Iranian regime.”
Spain swiftly and “categorically” rejected Leavitt’s assertion, nonetheless.
“The Spanish authorities’s place on the battle within the Center East … and the usage of our bases has not modified in any respect,” International Minister Jose Manuel Albares informed personal radio station Cadena Ser, based on Reuters.
The chaotic messaging between two NATO allies comes shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to chop off all commerce with Madrid, calling Spain “horrible” and repeating his criticism of Spain’s protection spending.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez responded on Wednesday by describing the sprawling Center East disaster as a “catastrophe” and summarized his authorities’s place in simply three phrases: “No to battle.”
Sánchez has emerged as one of many European Union’s main critics of U.S. and Israeli strikes in opposition to Iran, having additionally been an outspoken critic of Israel’s battle in Gaza.
Arancha González, former overseas minister of Spain, informed CNBC on Thursday that Trump’s assaults on Sánchez weren’t the primary time the U.S. president has criticized a European chief.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen have all beforehand been singled out by Trump.
“What do all of them have in frequent? They’ve stated ‘no’ or they’ve questioned motives by the U.S. president,” González stated. She added that political leaders who stood agency have been extra prone to be in a greater place over the long run.
‘Lets preserve calm’
González, who now serves because the Dean of the Paris Faculty of Worldwide Affairs (PSIA) at Sciences Po, additionally issued a warning to Washington over Trump’s menace to sever commerce ties with Madrid.
“Let me say that it could be silly of the U.S. to have a commerce embargo on a rustic with which it has a commerce surplus. The U.S. has a commerce surplus with Spain. President Trump all the time complains about imbalanced commerce relationships. Properly, right here is a superb commerce relationship the place he’s a profitable,” González informed CNBC’s “Squawk Field Europe” on Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from the media throughout a bilateral assembly with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz within the Oval Workplace of the White Home on March 03, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Win Mcnamee | Getty Photos
Trump’s menace to punish Spain on commerce is broadly regarded as a difficult prospect to ship on, on condition that the 27 EU nations negotiate commerce agreements collectively.
“Spain doesn’t have an autonomous commerce coverage. Spain’s commerce coverage is the European Union’s commerce coverage,” González stated. “Let’s preserve calm. Cool heads. This isn’t the primary time that we’ve seen threats of this type.”
Spain’s Ibex 35 index was the highest performer amongst Europe’s main bourses on Thursday afternoon, up round 0.7%. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index, in the meantime, was final seen up 0.2%.
Spain’s Ibex 35 index over the past 5 days.
“I am truly very optimistic on the truth that there was solidarity with Spain. There was clearly a united place that it’s unacceptable to attempt to bully particular person nations into particular political positions,” stated Guntram Wolff, senior fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based financial suppose tank.
“The U.S. president can disagree with them, and you recognize additionally amongst Europeans we are able to disagree on substance, however what shouldn’t be acceptable is that a person European ally will get singled out and will get bulled,” Wolff informed CNBC’s “Europe Early Version” on Thursday.
“Europeans have realized the teachings and know that they should stick collectively,” he added.
