Investing.com - Trump ordered Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to cut off all trade with Spain, calling Madrid a "terrible partner" in NATO while speaking alongside Secretary General Mark Rutte ahead of Wednesday's formal Ankara summit session.
The IBEX 35, Spain's benchmark stock index, fell as much as 2.2% on the news, putting it on track for its biggest one-day decline since May 4. Spanish banks, including Santander and BBVA, fell.
However, it was unclear what impact Trump's statement would have, given that Spain's international trade is conducted in conjunction with its partner states in the European Union.
The Ankara summit, which runs July 7-8, 2026, has already proven turbulent. Trump said on arriving in Turkey on Tuesday that he might have boycotted the gathering entirely had it not been for his personal friendship with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and he declined to rule out further U.S. troop withdrawals from Europe.
Addressing reporters alongside Erdogan, Trump said the U.S. was "very disappointed" with NATO and accused European allies of refusing to permit American forces to use their airspace and bases during the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
"Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they're not there for us? We've always been there for them," Trump said.
Rutte sought to contain the damage ahead of the formal Wednesday session, characterizing Trump's grievances as "isolated cases" while defending fresh U.S. strikes on Iran.
"When you have a ceasefire and Iran is basically violating the ceasefire, I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully react," Rutte told reporters. The NATO chief also invoked urgency around capability gaps at the alliance's defence industry forum: "We don't have the luxury of time. We need capabilities now to ensure we remain ready."
Against that backdrop, Bloomberg News reported that NATO is now weighing whether to skip its scheduled 2027 summit altogether to avoid generating further friction with Washington.
NATO unveiled arms deals worth at least $50 billion on Tuesday, including European countries purchasing surveillance drones from Northrop Grumman and the alliance itself buying early-warning aircraft from Sweden's Saab.
The broader NATO context has darkened considerably since last year's Hague summit, where allies committed to spending 5% of GDP on defence by 2035. Trump threatened to withdraw from the alliance entirely in April, waged the Iran campaign without consulting European members, and has repeatedly questioned the value of U.S. commitments.
European members and Canada have moved to fill capability gaps left by American cutbacks, with the draft summit declaration citing $139 billion in additional defence spending pledged ahead of the meeting.
The critical question for markets and policymakers heading into Wednesday's closing session is whether Trump signs a communiqué that re-affirms Article 5 collective defence commitments. A failure to do so would represent a historic rupture.
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