The Spanish prime minister has responded to Donald Trump’s threat to cut off all trade with Spain, as he stressed that Madrid’s position was “no to war”. On Tuesday (3 March), the US president said that “Spain has been terrible” after the NATO ally refused to let the US military use its bases for missions linked to strikes on Iran. Responding to the threat, Pedro Sánchez said that his country would “not be complicit in something that is bad for the world – and that is also contrary to our values and interests – simply out of fear of reprisals from someone”. He also chastised Mr Trump for playing “Russian roulette with the destiny of millions”, calling on the US and Israel to stop the war.

The US president recalled that Spain had been the only NATO country to refuse to increase defense expenditures to 5% of the GDP

Trump lashed out after Spain barred the US from using its military bases to carry out strikes on Iran.