Donald Trump's relations with the Spanish authorities are extremely tense. They are based on open ideological and economic conflict. The main cause of tensions is Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's categorical refusal to meet Washington's demands to increase military spending to 5 percent. GDP and Madrid's opposition to American military actions against Iran.
Spain blocked the US from using military bases in Rota and Moron for offensive purposes, leading to an unprecedented diplomatic crisis. Donald Trump responded to this attitude by announcing a complete severance of trade relations and imposing punitive tariffs on Spanish products.
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The American president publicly questions Spain's status as a NATO ally and suggests its exclusion from the pact's structures, calling Madrid's policy harmful to Western security. In response, the Sanchez government is tightening cooperation with Latin American powers and seeking protection within the European common market, which makes Spain now the most rebellious partner of the US in Europe.
Donald Trump on Spain: financial indicators absolutely disastrous
On Saturday, Donald Trump heated up the atmosphere again by posting on his social media.
“Has anyone looked at how badly Spain is doing? Their financial indicators, even though they contribute almost nothing to NATO and their military defense, are absolutely disastrous. It's sad to see!!!” wrote Donald Trump on Truth Social.
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The US president did not specify what exactly the financial indicators were. Spain is certainly not one of the benchmark European countries in terms of economic growth, but Words about a disaster seem to be greatly exaggerated.
Spain in Donald Trump's crosshairs. How is it doing economically?
Spain has an annual GDP growth rate of 2.7%. This is a very solid result. The situation on the local labor market is worse, where unemployment is around 10 percent.
It may be disturbing inflation at 3.4 percentbut in the face of the energy crisis caused by the war in Iran, this is not a tragic result. A bigger problem is the public debt, which exceeds 100%. GDP.
In conclusion, Spain's economic situation in 2026 is marked by strong polarization between stable internal growth and massive turbulence in foreign trade. On the one hand, the country is recording solid results thanks to record revenues from tourism and the ongoing energy transformation. On the other hand, the economy is struggling with the consequences of the trade war with the US, which hit the key agri-food sector and forced a costly reorientation of exports to Asian and Latin American markets.
