President Donald Trump has slammed Spain for not contributing enough to NATO, as he attended the defense alliance summit in Turkey.
“Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate. They don’t pay. I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits,” he said at a press conference in Ankara with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
“Don’t even talk to them. They’re hopeless, bad people,” the president said.
It marks the latest development in Trump’s row with Spain over its defense spending. It is the only member of the military alliance to not have committed last year to spending 5% of its GDP on defense by 2035.
Spanish bonds — which had already been selling off before the press conference — slid further after Trump’s comments, with the yield on Spain’s benchmark 10-year bond last seen trading 7 basis points higher at 3.5408%.
The Spanish IBEX 35 equity index also fell, and was last seen trading more than 1% lower.
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