“The Spaniards endanger the lives of Americans.” This is the conclusion that the Trump Administration draws from the Spanish Government’s refusal to use the bases for its illegal bombings on Iran.
In an interview on CNBC, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated this Wednesday: “It was unacceptable over the weekend that the Spanish showed very little cooperation with respect to US bases. [las bases son españolas] and what we could do with our planes when we began executing Operation Epic Fury. Anything that slows our ability to prosecute this war as quickly and effectively puts American lives at risk. “The Spaniards endanger the lives of Americans.”
In relation to the US president’s threat to impose “embargoes” on Spain, made in the Oval Office before the silence of the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and in the presence of Bessent himself, the Secretary of the Treasury avoided specifying anything this Wednesday: “It would be an effort of accommodation… President Trump’s frustration with the Spanish Government is justified. First of all, they have been terrible allies, they are the only member of NATO that does not meet the requirements of the Alliance, which is knows how to be freeloaders. The Spanish Government is intentionally taking advantage of the American Government and all the other NATO allies who have stepped forward. NATO has never been as strong as it is now thanks to President Trump and the Spanish do not want to pay their fair share. And they said: ‘Well, you know, we have the Pyrenees between us and Russia.’ [no en cuota de PIB]”.
Waiting for Trump’s threats to translate into concrete retaliation, the US president dedicated a good part of his appearance before the press this Tuesday together with the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, to attacking the Spanish Government.
“Spain has been terrible,” Trump said: “In fact, I told Scott [Bessent, secretario del Tesoro] cut off all relations with Spain. Spain said we can’t use their bases. We could use their base if we wanted. We could just fly there and use it. Nobody is going to tell us not to use it. But we don’t have to. But they have been unfriendly.”
“I can decide to stop today everything we do with Spain, we can do it right now. The Supreme Court has recognized this. I could stop tomorrow, today even better, everything that has to do with Spain. Embargoes. We can do it with Spain,” Trump said. Bessent has said that the Supreme Court “reaffirmed its ability to apply an embargo.” And Trump added: “And we can impose 15% tariffs on whoever we want.” [cosa que ya ha decretado el presidente de EEUU]”.
The Spanish Government, for its part, does not see a trade breakup as easy as Trump threatens, and considers that a series of circumstances must occur for the relationship to change. “If the North American administration wants to review [la relación comercial] “It must do so respecting the autonomy of private companies, international legality, and bilateral agreements between the European Union and the United States,” say Moncloa sources after the words of the US president.
Source: www.eldiario.es
