President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered the U.S. to cut all trade with Spain, escalating his feud with a key NATO member during the alliance’s summit in Ankara, Turkey.Trump described Spain as “a wasted cause” and said he no longer wants the U.S. doing business with the country.“Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits,” he told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in front of reporters. “Watch them come running back.”Referring to Spain as a “terrible partner in NATO,” Trump alleged “they don't participate, they don't pay.”He appeared to be referencing Spain's refusal to commit to investing 5% of GDP annually on defense by 2035, after other member states agreed to the target at last year's summit.“We don't have to trade with them. I don't want to do any more trade with them. All right, take it immediately,” Trump added. “Don't even talk to them, they're hopeless, bad people.”Spanish Health Minister Mónica García issued a strong rebuke of Trump’s pointed criticism.“Trump calls Spain a 'terrible partner’ because it accepts neither blackmail nor threats. Because we are a sovereign, democratic country that defends multilateralism and peace,” she said. “Terrible is to confuse diplomacy with thuggery.”A source from the Spanish government told TIME "our country maintains a magnificent social, cultural, and economic relationship with the U.S.A and it is not our intention that this will change."Relations between Washington and Madrid have become strained amid the fallout of the Iran war.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez emerged as one of Europe's most vocal critics, accusing the U.S. of dragging the world into a war that has brought only “insecurity and pain.”Spain notably denied U.S. forces access to joint military bases for offensive operations against Iran and closed its airspace to American aircraft involved in the conflict.Trump has repeatedly singled out Spain over those decisions and first floated the idea of cutting trade with the country in March—an economic threat that was widely rebuked by European leaders. He did not follow through on the threat, but tensions remained high.A month later, an internal Pentagon email reportedly suggested various ways the Administration could punish NATO allies it believes let the U.S. down by not actively supporting operations in the Iran war, according to Reuters. The U.S. was said to be floating the idea of suspending Spain from the NATO alliance."We do not work with emails," Sánchez told reporters when asked about the matter at the European Union summit that same week. "We work with official documents and positions taken, in this case, by the government of the United States."NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte greets Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. SAUL LOEB––AFP/Getty ImagesDuring Wednesday's press conference, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, often referred to as the “Trump whisperer,” attempted to assure the President that Spain had made significant progress on defense spending.“You mentioned Spain, even you got Spain to pay 2%,” Rutte said. “They made a huge step last year, there's still issues we have to solve, but even Spain, I would say, they got to the 2%.”But Trump appeared unconvinced.The European Union's side of a trade deal struck with ​the U.S. last year came into effect on July 1.The E.U.’s 27 nations negotiate trade as a bloc, which means that they respond to trade issues as a collective.In response to the U.S. tensions with Spain, European Commission deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill told reporters that the bloc “has been very clear and consistent on this issue."“We expect the U.S. to honour its commitments under that joint statement, as we have honoured ours,” he said, adding that the Commission “will always ensure that the interests of the European Union and all our member States are fully protected.”