Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 07/08/2026 6:32:26 AM PDT by DFG
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered an immediate halt to all trade with NATO ally Spain, escalating tensions over defence spending and the Iran war, despite European Union rules requiring trade negotiations to be conducted as a single bloc.
During a NATO summit in Ankara, which European leaders had hoped would cap rifts within the military alliance, Trump instead reignited the dispute with Spain, calling it a "terrible partner". He also irked another NATO ally Denmark by reiterating that his country should control Greenland. Denmark promised to defend every inch of its territory.
This marked the second time Trump has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt commerce with Spain over its refusal to commit to NATO's new defence spending target of 5% of GDP. However, after his first such promise in March, trade between the two countries continued normally.
"Spain doesn't agree to anything, and you shouldn't carry them," Trump told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who later tried to soothe the tension by saying that Spain "made a huge step last year" raising its spending to 2%, though he added that "there are still issues we have to solve".
Trump has also repeatedly expressed frustration with Spain after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, a Socialist who leads a minority leftist government, refused to let the U.S. use its airspace or bases for the Iran war.
NO TRADE WITH SPAIN
"I don't want to do any trade with them, alright?" Trump said, turning to Bessent, who replied: "Yes, sir."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Spain is run by a complete Wacko
It’s despicable what Sanchez has done to Spain.
Want to bet that judge shopping goes international?
Uh, sorry Reuters, President Trump is not bound by European Union rules.
Spanish political leadership has gone totally pro-Pallie and off the rails in general.
We should raa we Ach smarten with the Danes on Greenland. They want to keep some interest probably because of future natural resource development.
Most people aren’t aware that Spain now considers itself “post Christian”.
I suspect that is the root of most if not all of it’s troubles.
Remove God, crate a void and guess who is more than happy to step in.
We don't care...we aren't in the EU. We get to choose who we trade with. If EU doesn't like it they can stop trade with us...and we know they don't want to do that.
It is tragic what that bastard has done to Spain. There will no getting rid of him now that he has given citizenship to a million savages.
I think we should have different standards for (a) members of the U.N. Security Council and front line nations and (b) other nations.
Let’s say 3% for those in the (a) group and 2% for those in the (b) group. The exact numbers should be negotiated. I say this believing both in peace through strength and in America First. With strong allies, our defense and the peace of the democratic countries of the world are strengthened. With weak allies, our defense is weakened and the peace of the democratic countries of the world is put into jeopardy.
The stated commitment of NATO is 2%. (This seems small.) We spend 3.4% (latest figure). France and U.K., permanent members of the UN Security Council, 2.1% and 2.3%.
There is also the matter of years of neglect. Canada’s navy is completely inadequate due to years of under funding. Canada needs, right now, to order coastal defense submarines.
There is the matter of the willingness of the people of our alliances to join in mutual defense. The Finns, for example, have a small standing army; but, every male goes through military training and then joins a reserve unit. We, in the U.S., have a long tradition of a mix of professional and citizen soldiers. I don’t think we need a “one size fits all” approach, but the members of the alliance should explore how they will maintain the willingness of their people to join in mutual defense.
Finally, there is the matter of incentives. Countries that don’t shoulder their responsibility should be subject to some kind of penalty. Trump’s idea of tying tariffs to meeting the standard is a good idea.
Spain’s military spending is no worse than Trump’s friend Erdogan’s Turkey. But, hey, Trump and Erdogan are friends.
“despite European Union rules requiring trade negotiations to be conducted as a single bloc”
well, reuters, exactly how does that apply to the USA? or did some rogue AI think that was a good idea to insert such a ridiculous irrelevancy in this article? ... after all, there weren’t any “negotiations”: Spain simply FAFOed ...
Close the bases and give Puerto Rico back.
“There will no getting rid of him now that he has given citizenship to a million savages.”
i read that Spain’s Supreme Court just nixed doing that ...
That seems to have hit a snag, for now:
Spain's Top Court BLOCKS Mass Migrant Amnesty. All of Europe Pays.
I didn’t think Trump looked that happy walking around with Erdogan yesterday.
Spain has become our ideological enemy (no shooting yet), but does Trump have statutory authority to do this?
Sanchez?
There is a bimb in his future.
Inspector Clouseau approves of this message.
Dirty Sanchez.
Trump should just go ahead to kick them out of NATO.
good riddance
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.