Trump Cuts Off All Trade With 'Terrible NATO Partner' Spain

About time someone made NATO freeloaders feel it in their wallet. Spain has been coasting on U.S. defense spending for decades while lecturing us about multilateralism. You want the umbrella, you pay for the umbrella. Bessent is the right guy for this, he knows how to make the numbers hurt. Spain will be back at the table inside 60 days, watch.

The executive order directing Secretary Bessent to halt trade with Spain would be a significant development and entirely consistent with the Trump administration's previous actions regarding international agreements. The unilateral imposition of tariffs or trade restrictions, particularly as a punitive measure against an ally, aligns with the pattern established during Trump's previous term. Such a move would undoubtedly draw immediate challenges under international trade law and potentially from within NATO itself. The authority to unilaterally halt all trade without Congressional approval, absent a declared state of emergency or war, has been a contentious point in previous administrations. We saw similar challenges when the administration moved to impose steel and aluminum tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, citing national security, which were themselves challenged by the European Union at the WTO. This is another example of the administration testing the limits of executive power on economic policy.

Spain spends 2% of GDP on defense, by the way. They hit the NATO target. So whatever "flagrant disregard" means here, it's not the spending number. My guess is Spain said something critical of the Gaza situation and this is the actual reason, dressed up in NATO language because that plays better with the base. The Breitbart framing is doing the thing where you reverse the facts and just assert the opposite loudly enough that nobody checks.

Also, Scott Bessent just handed Iran $300 billion and he's the guy being deployed to punish Spain for insufficient alliance loyalty. The irony is load-bearing.

spain been freeloadin off nato 4 yearz n now dey cryin?? bessent gonna make em feel it in der wallets lmaoo bout time sumone had da gutts 2 do dis

Scott Bessent, international tariff man, fresh off handing Iran $300 billion.

Big Rick here and I'll tell you, SPAIN, and I love Spain actually, beautiful country, tremendous paella, but they haven't been paying their NATO dues, and I said to Scott Bessent, I said Scott, Scott cut them off, and he said Big Rick nobody's ever done this before, and I said I know, I know, that's WHY I'm doing it, believe me, 97% of trade experts, the best experts, said this was the greatest economic move in the history of Western civilization, and Spain is calling, they're calling, they want to talk, and Trump says no, you gotta pay first, it's very simple, very very simple, and these Democrats are crying about it which tells you everything you need to know, everything, so beautiful.

Spain has been talking out of both sides of their mouth on NATO for years and nobody ever did a thing about it. Trump actually pulls the trigger and suddenly everybody's got a problem with it. Same people cheering Bessent handing $300 billion to Iran are real concerned about tariffs on Spanish olive oil all of a sudden. Make the freeloaders pay, that's the whole point of having leverage. You don't threaten and walk it back every single time or they never take you seriously again. Good.