After Spain denied the use of its military bases by the United States to launch strikes on Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump called for an embargo against the European country.
"Spain has been terrible... We're going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don't want anything to do with Spain,"he said.
Trump made the remarks during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House and added that he had told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to "cut off all dealings" with Spain.
Related: U.S. government moves Bitcoin amid Iran war
Following the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran is retaliating by launching attacks on U.S. and Israeli military bases in Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has condemned U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran and his government has denied the use of bases in Rota and Morón for the strikes against the West Asian country.
"I could tomorrow stop—or today, even better—stop everything having to do with Spain, all business having to do with Spain, have the right to stop it, embargoes, do anything I want with it," Trump continued.
Bessent concurred, "I agree that the Supreme Court reaffirmed your ability to implement an embargo."
Bessent was referring to the Supreme Court ruling last month that overturned Trump's global tariff policy. The court said the president exceeded his authority when imposing sweeping tariffs using a law reserved for a national emergency.
Trump had slammed the ruling as "deeply disappointing." He, in fact, then argued it's "ridiculous" that he could now destroy countries with "embargoes" but couldn't charge them even a dollar, thanks to the court's ruling.
Bessent has been a strong supporter of Trump's trade policy and believes the U.S. will only benefit from such aggressive measures.
The Spanish government responded that it possesses adequate resources to contain the possible impact of a U.S. embargo while maintaining its call for compliance with international trade law.
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Trump's tariffs and crypto markets
When Trump began the global tariff war on Apr. 2 last year, the total crypto market cap declined from $2.74 trillion on Apr. 2 to $2.42 trillion on Apr. 8.
When he withdrew the tariffs on all countries for 90 days except China, the digital assets market began to recover over the next months.
On Oct. 6, Bitcoin (BTC) hit an all-time high of $126,080, but Trump's fresh tariff threat against China on Oct. 10 led to a flash crash, wiping out over $19 billion from the market in a day.
The market is yet to recover and the Iran war has offered no succor. The total crypto market stood at $2.4 trillion at the time of writing, with BTC trading at $68,623.10.
Related: Oil surge to $120 could reignite inflation fears, analyst warns
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Mar 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
