France’s President Emmanuel Macron Wednesday told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez he stood by him after President Donald Trump threatened to sever trade with Spain over it refusing US use of its bases to attack Iran, his office said.
“The president has just spoken with Prime Minister Sanchez to express France’s European solidarity in response to the recent threats of economic coercion targeting Spain,” it said.
Trump lashed out at the government of Sanchez on Tuesday, criticising its refusal to grant use of the Rota naval base and Moron air base, as well as Madrid’s refusal to join NATO allies in a pledge to boost defence spending.
“So we’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” Trump said.
Sanchez’s leftist government has angered Washington with a series of other policies, including his staunch opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza and the military operation to abduct and arrest President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela.
Macron in a televised speech on Tuesday evening said US-Israel military operations in Iran were conducted “outside international law”, but placed primary blame on the Islamic republic.
He said France would be sending its flagship aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean in response to the widening conflict in the Middle East.
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