The real trigger: Airspace and the war with Iran
The Pentagon goes on the attack: Rota, Morón and NATO expulsion
Sánchez’s defence: Data over rhetoric
The NATO summit in Ankara has blown apart. What promised to be a gathering to showcase transatlantic unity has instead become the stage for an unprecedented diplomatic rift between the United States and Spain.
US President Donald Trump has launched a frontal assault against Pedro Sánchez’s administration, announcing a drastic order to his Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent: to immediately suspend all commercial ties with Spain.
“Spain accepts nothing, you shouldn’t be burdened with them (…). I don’t want to do any business with them. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits… Don’t even speak to them. They are a lost cause,” a blunt Trump declared, appearing alongside the Alliance’s Secretary General, Mark Rutte.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte delivers the opening speech at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, on the sidelines of the NATO Leaders’ Summit, in Ankara, Turkey, on 7 July 2026 – REUTERS/ YVES HERMAN
The real trigger: Airspace and the war with Iran
Although the White House has publicly used Madrid’s refusal to raise military spending to 5% of GDP as its argument — a demand Washington is trying to impose on its partners — corridors at the summit confirm a far more thorny and operational motive.
The true trigger for Trump’s fury has been the Spanish Government’s staunch refusal to allow American forces to use Spanish airspace or its military bases to launch operations or provide logistical support in the ongoing war that the US is waging against Iran.
This stance of neutrality and protection of the welfare state against military escalation has been branded by Washington as a “betrayal” of collective security.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrives for a family photo with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and other heads of state, during a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on 25 June 2025 – REUTERS/ YVES HERMAN
The Pentagon goes on the attack: Rota, Morón and NATO expulsion
The American administration’s response threatens to completely spill over the economic sphere. According to late-night leaks, the Pentagon is already reviewing an internal report outlining maximum-severity military retaliation:
Future of the bases: The continuity of the US presence in strategic enclaves such as Rota Naval Base and Morón Air Base is being called into question.
Suspension from the Alliance: Senior officials are mulling over the extreme possibility of proposing the temporary suspension of Spain from NATO’s structure due to a lack of cooperation in critical missions.
A United States Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker taxis on the runway at Morón Air Base, in Morón de la Frontera, southern Spain – REUTERS/ MARCELO DEL POZO
Sánchez’s defence: Data over rhetoric
Facing the aggression, Pedro Sánchez and the Spanish delegation have closed ranks, shielding themselves with the organization’s own official data. The Government maintains that Spain scrupulously meets the original commitment of 2% of GDP, reaching an investment of €35,419 million in 2026 (the seventh-highest budget in the Alliance in absolute terms).
The prime minister’s team at La Moncloa also point out the country’s real weight on the ground: Spain is currently one of the members with the highest number of troops deployed on the eastern flank and leads the naval component of the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force. La Moncloa argues that raising this to 5% is unsustainable and that countries which have promised that figure on paper do not even reach the required minimum at present.
The geopolitical showdown is underway. Whilst Mark Rutte desperately attempts to defuse tensions to prevent the summit from collapsing into chaos, Spain faces one of the most complex international isolation scenarios in its recent history over the coming hours.