Lorraine Williamson
Spain has flatly rejected a White House claim that Madrid has agreed to cooperate with the US military, after days of rising tension over the use of American bases on Spanish soil and Washington’s threat to cut off trade.
The dispute erupted after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Spain had “agreed to cooperate with the U.S. military” in the past few hours, following Donald Trump’s warnings of economic retaliation. Reuters reported the comment was not backed up with details.
Within hours, Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, dismissed the statement as untrue and said Spain’s stance had not shifted. Speaking on Cadena SER, Albares said he had looked into the claim and “categorically” denied any agreement.
What the disagreement is really about: Rota and Morón
At the heart of the row are the joint US-Spanish installations at Rota (naval base) and Morón (air base) in southern Spain, which are used for a range of operations. Spain’s government has opposed their use for missions linked to the current US-Israel campaign against Iran, according to reporting in both European and US outlets.
That refusal triggered Trump’s public threat to impose a full trade embargo on Spain. Reuters reported he said he had told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings” with Spain, and added: “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain.”
Why a “trade cut-off” is not straightforward
Spain is an EU member state, and trade policy sits largely at EU level. That matters because any attempt to single out Spain would collide with how EU-US trade agreements operate in practice.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking after meeting Trump, was quoted by Reuters as saying Spain cannot be carved out of EU trade arrangements: tariffs are negotiated “only together or not at all”.
Madrid’s message: no U-turn
The Spanish government has tried to keep the message simple: Spain’s position has not changed.
Albares has denied that Spain has altered its approach to base use. Prime minister Pedro Sánchez has also doubled down publicly on Spain’s anti-war stance.
Deputy prime minister María Jesús Montero was also quoted by Reuters stressing Spain “will not be vassals” to another country.
Risks
The immediate question is whether Washington escalates beyond rhetoric. The White House has not published details of what “cooperation” would involve, while Spain is treating the claim as false.
For Spain, the risk is political and economic uncertainty rather than an overnight trade shutdown. For the EU, the risk is that a bilateral spat becomes a wider transatlantic dispute.