US President Donald Trump has demanded that all American trade with Spain be halted, branding the country a "wasted cause" and a "terrible partner" during a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. Speaking on Wednesday while seated beside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump accused Spain of failing to meet its defence spending obligations and appeared to issue direct orders to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to cut ties. The remarks mark a striking escalation in tensions between Washington and a fellow NATO member.

Spain is reportedly the only one of NATO's 32 members to have refused to commit to spending five percent of its GDP on defence. Trump had already called for trade with Spain to be stopped back in March, though commerce has continued as normal since. Alongside trade, he also called for "visits" to Spain to be frozen, although it is unclear whether any official US travel plans currently exist. The comments came during a wider press conference in which Trump also addressed Iran, NATO and Greenland.