Banned from Using Bases, Trump Will Break US-Spanish Trade Relations

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump said he would cut trade ties with Spain after the US could not use a Spanish military base to attack Iran.

"We will cut off all trade with Spain. We don't want to deal with Spain anymore," Trump told reporters in the White House Oval Office while receiving German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, reported Anadolu, Wednesday, March 3.

On Monday, Spain said the US would not use Spanish military bases to attack Iran, while asserting full authority over all facilities they had.

"Bases under Spanish sovereignty will not be used for anything outside the agreement with the United States or anything that is not in accordance with the United Nations Charter," Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said in an interview with El Diario.

Albares stressed that even though the base is used jointly, Spain still has the highest authority.

He also denied the US had informed Spain beforehand and called the latest attack on Iran a "unilateral action outside the framework of collective action."

Trump also expressed his frustration with the UK's decision to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in exchange for a 99-year lease to operate a US-UK joint military base on Diego Garcia.

The base on the largest island of the Chagos archipelago has played a key role in supporting US military operations in the Middle East for decades.

Although he did not mention Diego Garcia directly, Trump said Britain was "very uncooperative" when the US attacked Iran and called the British position "shocking."

"They damage relationships. It's a shame," he said.

He said the US needed three to four days to confirm the landing site on Diego Garcia.

"It would be easier if we could land there than have to fly again for a few hours. So we are very surprised. What we are facing now is not Winston Churchill," Trump said, comparing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with the British leader of the World War II era.