Overview
- At the White House, President Donald Trump threatened to break commercial relations with Spain, speaking in front of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
- The Spanish government registered surprise that Merz did not publicly defend Spain, with Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares contrasting his stance with Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz.
- Merz later said he told Trump in private that the European Union negotiates trade as a bloc and would not exclude a member state such as Spain.
- Pedro Sánchez and Merz shared a brief, on‑camera greeting and aside before the European Council in Brussels, which both sides presented as closing the dispute.
- Reports variously linked Trump’s threat to Spain’s position on the Rota and Morón bases or to criticism of Spain’s defense spending, while trade competence remains with Brussels.