\u201cWell, we do not work with emails,\u201d S\u00e1nchez told reporters at a European Union summit in Cyprus. \u201cWe work with official documents and positions taken, in this case, by the government of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe position of the government of Spain is clear: absolute collaboration with the allies, but always within the framework of international legality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has harshly criticized NATO allies for not sending their navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed to global shipping \u200cfollowing the start of the US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic on February 28.<\/p>\n
He has also declared he is considering withdrawing the US from the powerful alliance, which was founded after World War II and in the early years of the Cold War.<\/p>\n
\u201cWouldn\u2019t you if you were me?\u201d Trump asked Reuters in an April 1 interview, in response to a question about whether the US pulling out of NATO was a possibility.<\/p>\n
\t But the email does not suggest that the United States do so, the official said. It also does not propose closing bases in Europe.<\/p>\n The official declined to say whether the options included a widely expected US drawdown of some forces from Europe, however.<\/p>\n Asked for comment on the email, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson responded: \u201cAs President Trump has said, despite everything that the United States has done for our NATO allies, they were not there for us.<\/p>\n \u201cThe War Department will ensure that the President has credible options to ensure that our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part. We have no further comment on any internal deliberations to that effect,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n White House sees European \u2018sense of entitlement\u2019<\/p>\n The US-Israeli war with Iran has raised serious questions about the future of \u200bthe 76-year-old bloc and provoked unprecedented concern that the US might not come to the aid of European allies should they be attacked, analysts and diplomats say.<\/p>\n Britain, France and others say that joining the US naval \u200bblockade would amount to entering the war, but that they would be willing to help keep the Strait open once there was a lasting ceasefire or the conflict ended.<\/p>\n \t But Trump administration officials have stressed that NATO cannot be a one-way street.<\/p>\n They have expressed frustration with Spain, where the United States has two important military bases: Naval Station Rota and Mor\u00f3n Air Base.<\/p>\n The policy options outlined in the email would be intended to send a strong signal to NATO allies with the goal of \u201cdecreasing the sense of entitlement on the part of the Europeans,\u201d the official said, summarizing the email.<\/p>\n The option to suspend Spain from the alliance would have a limited effect on US military operations but a significant symbolic impact, the email argued.<\/p>\n The official did not disclose how the United States might pursue suspending Spain from the alliance, and Reuters could not immediately determine whether there was an existing mechanism at NATO to do so.<\/p>\n \t The memo also includes an option to consider reassessing US diplomatic support for longstanding European \u201cimperial possessions,\u201d such as the UK\u2019s Falkland Islands near Argentina.<\/p>\n The State Department\u2019s website states that the islands are administered by the United Kingdom but are still claimed by Argentina, whose President Javier Milei is an ally of Trump, as well as of Israel.<\/p>\n Britain and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 over the islands after Argentina made a failed bid to take them. Some 650 Argentine soldiers and 255 British troops died before Argentina surrendered.<\/p>\n Trump has repeatedly insulted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, calling him cowardly because of his unwillingness to join the US war with Iran, \u200bsaying he was<\/a> \u201cnot Winston Churchill\u201d and describing Britain\u2019s aircraft carriers as \u201ctoys.\u201d<\/p>\n Britain initially did not grant a request from the US to allow its aircraft to attack Iran from two British bases, but later \u200bagreed to allow defensive missions aimed at protecting residents of the region, including British citizens, amid Iranian retaliation.<\/p>\n Addressing reporters at the Pentagon earlier this month, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said \u201ca lot has been laid bare\u201d by the war with Iran, noting that Iran\u2019s longer-range missiles cannot hit the United States but can reach Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cWe get questions, or roadblocks, or hesitations \u2026 You don\u2019t have much of an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump speaks during an event on health care affordability in the Oval Office at the White House on April 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP\/Mark Schiefelbein)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26112530000162-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tMembers of a French air force detachment of personnel and Rafale jets stationed on a monthslong deployment at the Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania on a NATO air-policing mission play chess in the detachment\u2019s headquarters at the base on April 20, 2026. (AP\/John Leicester)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26069309477751-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tGreenpeace activists hang a banner reading, in Spanish, \u201cNot to war\u201d in downtown Madrid, Spain, on March 10, 2026. (AP\/Bernat Armangue)<\/p>\n
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