The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has once again attacked Spain for not supporting him in the Iran war. Through a comment on his social network, Truth, he shared information published by the CBS network that echoed an exclusive revealed by EL PAÍS a couple of weeks ago about the decision of Pedro Sánchez’s government to close the airspace to U.S. military planes conducting missions in Iran. “They have not been there for us,” wrote the Republican leader on Truth.
The message released this Friday is the first without anyone asking him about it. The diplomatic tension between the White House and the Moncloa Palace has been in crescendo since Trump returned to the Oval Office after winning the 2024 presidential elections. The Republican has repeatedly criticized Sánchez for not spending more on defense or for his lack of support in Iran. He has threatened to raise tariffs or take other commercial measures, although the threats have never gone beyond words.
But the tension has intensified after the start of bombings on Tehran. The Spanish government has publicly opposed the war and has championed a movement against the U.S. aggression. The left-wing administration has revived the old slogan from more than two decades ago, “No to war,” as a symbol of opposition to Washington’s stance.
This Friday’s message is not the only one the occupant of the Oval Office has sent against Spain since starting the war against the ayatollahs’ regime. “They are not cooperating at all,” Trump said a month ago at the White House about the Spanish authorities. “They are doing really badly,” he said when the head of the government denied Washington the use of the Rota and Morón bases for operations related to the war in the Middle East. And he added: Trump added: “Let me give you the good news. The people of Spain are fantastic. Their rulers, not so much.”
Before that, the U.S. president described his European ally as a “terrible” partner. Two days later, in an interview with the New York Post, he called Spain a “loser,” “failed.”
Disappointment with European partners
Trump has repeatedly shown his disappointment with NATO’s European partners for not supporting him in the war against Iran, nor in organizing a coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked for six weeks by Tehran in response to U.S. and Israeli aggression.
The White House has threatened to withdraw troops from some European bases and even close military bases in those countries that have not cooperated with the military operation to end the Islamist regime.
