Spain brushes off Trump's latest trade threat, says bilateral ties benefits both countries

Spain on Wednesday downplayed US President Donald Trump's latest threats against the country after he called for cutting off all trade with Spain, calling Madrid a “lost cause,” during the NATO summit in Ankara, the Turkish capital.

Government sources said Spain maintains "a magnificent social, cultural and economic relationship" with the US that benefit both countries, according to Spanish outlet EFE.

They also stressed that the EU is a trade union and so no individual member state can be singled out in trade matters.

The government gave the same response to similar threats made by Trump earlier this year after Spain became the only NATO member to refuse to commit to increasing its defense spending to 5% of its gross domestic product (GDP).

It reiterated that the US cannot cut its trade relationship with Spain alone because that relationship is with the EU as a whole.

The government also noted that, according to the report, the US has a trade surplus with Spain, meaning it benefits from the trade relationship.

It added that economic ties are built by private companies rather than governments and reiterated that the bilateral relationship between Spain and the United States is "beneficial to both countries" in both trade and defense.