US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to cut off trade with Spain as NATO leaders met for their summit in Ankara.
Trump singled out Spain for particular criticism calling it a “terrible partner in NATO”.
“Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore,” he said, asking his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut it off”.
While Trump is still smarting from the European response to his war with Iran, he still also has not dropped his desire for NATO member Denmark’s territory of Greenland.
“I’m very upset with NATO,” he told reporters as he met alliance chief Mark Rutte ahead of the main summit session.
“I’m not happy with NATO because of what they did with Greenland, and I’m not happy with NATO because of the fact that they didn’t want to help us with the number one state sponsor of terror, that’s Iran.”
“Greenland is a big problem for us,” he told reporters, saying it was “very important for the United States, but it’s not important for Denmark”.
“We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States.. It doesn’t help Denmark, but it helps us.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte insisted that the US and Denmark would stick to a deal to hold talks over potentially increasing the US footprint on the Arctic island.
