Albares conveys his “surprise” to his German counterpart at Merz’s lack of “solidarity” with Spain after Trump’s threats

Eduardo González Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares conveyed to his German counterpart, Johann Wadepuhl, his “surprise” at Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s lack of reaction when he witnessed, firsthand, US President Donald Trump’s threats to “cut off all trade with Spain” in retaliation for the Pedro Sánchez government’s decision not to allow the use of the Morón and Rota military bases for the offensive against Iran. “I conveyed our surprise at those words to him,” the minister declared this Wednesday during an interview on the Spanish Television program La Hora de la 1. “When you share a currency, a common trade policy, and a common market with another country, you expect the same solidarity that Spain has shown, for example, with Denmark, when there have been tariff threats due to Denmark's desire to withdraw its territorial integrity from Greenland, or the solidarity that Spain expresses with the countries on the eastern flank,” he continued. “Since we've been in government, we've known three chancellors: (Angela) Merkel, (Olaf) Scholz, and now Merz,” he recalled. “I can't imagine Merkel or Scholz making statements like that; there was a different pro-European spirit then,” he added. Trump made these remarks during his meeting at the White House with Friedrich Merz, when, after praising the German government, he went on to describe the relationship with Spain as “unfriendly.” It was at that moment that, unexpectedly, he went off on a tangent: “They have good people, but terrible leadership. We saw that when we wanted them to dedicate five percent to defense in NATO,” Trump said about Spain. “It all started when I asked every European country to reach five percent, which is what they should be doing. Germany was enthusiastic, they all were. Spain wasn't,” he recalled. “Now they've even said we can't use their bases. We could use their bases if we wanted, we could fly there and use them. Nobody's going to tell us not to use them,” he continued. “Spain has been terrible, so we're going to cut off all trade with them. We don't want anything to do with them,” he asserted. “I could stop everything related to Spain, all business related to Spain, I have the right to stop it. Embargoes. I do whatever I want with them, and we could do it with Spain. We're going to cut off all trade with Spain,” he added. For his part, Merz, who listened silently to the US president's remarks, simply pointed out that Spain is the “only country” in NATO that has not agreed to raise defense spending to five percent. “We have to convince them because we all have to contribute to common security,” he added. The German chancellor is the first European leader to visit the White House since the US-Israeli offensive against Iran. Friedrich Merz himself did everything possible on Wednesday to salvage his tarnished image with Spain. Speaking to the German media, he asserted that he didn't want to contradict Trump "publicly" to avoid making matters worse and that he left everything for a subsequent "personal conversation" behind closed doors. "I told him: first of all, Spain is a member of the EU and, therefore, any trade and tariff issues are negotiated jointly. It's not possible to treat Spain particularly badly," he declared. Following Trump's remarks, sources at the Spanish Prime Minister's office warned that "if the US administration wants to review trade, it must respect international law, corporate autonomy, and bilateral agreements between the EU and the United States." Similarly, a spokesperson for the European Commission defended Spain, asserting that the EU executive "will always ensure that the interests of the European Union are fully protected." "We expect the United States to honor its commitments under the 2025 trade agreement," the spokesperson added. Friedrich Merz made his only official visit to Spain to date last September. In the press conference following their bilateral meeting, both leaders highlighted their strong differences regarding the situation in the Middle East. Specifically, the German Chancellor made it clear that Germany stands “on Israel’s side” and has no intention of recognizing the Palestinian state, nor does it support the term “genocide” to describe the situation. EU’s “full solidarity” with Spain For his part, the President of the European Council, António Costa, expressed to Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday the European Union’s “full solidarity” with Spain following the threats from the US president. In a telephone call, Costa conveyed the European Union’s support to the Spanish government and assured him that “the EU will always guarantee the full protection of the interests of its member states.” In this regard, he reaffirmed the bloc’s “firm commitment” “to the principles of international law and the rules-based order throughout the world.” At the same time, the European Commission expressed its “full solidarity with all member states and all their citizens” and, through the common commercial policy, indicated its readiness to “act if necessary” to “safeguard the interests of the EU.” For his part, Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, announced this Wednesday that he would call Pedro Sánchez to convey his solidarity and express his support for the decision not to allow the use of Morón and Rota in the US attack on Iran.

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