The United States in the first bilateral contact reported by the Donald Trump administration since it returned to power on January 20. The call has occurred between Christopher Landau, the Undersecretary of the American State, and Diego Martínez Belío, Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. In the summary of the call it is not mentioned that both have referred to the possible first open conflict that occurs for both countries:
“The Undersecretary of State Christopher Landau spoke today with the Spanish Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Diego Martínez Belío,” says the note released by the State Department. “Undersecretary Landau reaffirmed the strength of the association between the United States and Spain and called on Spain to increase its expense in defense according to their commitments to NATO. The Undersecretary and the Secretary of State spoke about the deepening of our ties in a wide range of mutual interests, including the strengthening of migration cooperation,” he adds.
At the 2014 Wales Summit, the allies of the Atlantic Alliance committed themselves to reach a defense level equivalent to 2% of the gross domestic product in 2024, which Spain is far from reaching. In the Spanish case, the intention of the Government of Pedro Sánchez was to reach that goal in 2029, but in full debate about the need to strengthen security and defense in Europe, Sanchez has advanced that that goal will be achieved earlier than expected, although he has not offered any calendar.
This same week, that “Spain wants to reach 2% [del PIB en gasto militar] This summer. ”
The Joe Biden, in immigration matters, with some reduced agreements to host immigrants in Spain who intended to travel to the United States.
This is the first officially recognized contact between the Trump administration and the Government of Pedro Sánchez after the return to the power of the Republican on January 20. The call is produced in the week when the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has signed a decree in which to the products imported from countries that buy oil from Venezuela, including Spain.
In this context, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, will attend the next Thursday, April 4, the informal summit with NATO, in which the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, where a first bilateral meeting could occur.
After Trump’s triumph at the polls in the elections on November 5, Sánchez congratulated the new president of the United States for his victory and highlighted the need for both countries to work in their strategic bilateral relations and a “solid transatlantic association”.
On his first day in office, but he made a mess by confusing Spain with a country of the BRICs and threatening him with 100% tariffs for his own confusion. A journalist asked him about the low expense in defense of NATO countries such as France and Spain, but Trump singularized Spain by saying that his expense is “very low.”
“[El gasto militar de] Spain is very low, ”Trump replied to the question about countries that dedicate less than 5% of their gross domestic product to defense. But then he pointed out that Spain is a BRICS country, an acronym formed with the initials of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, emerging countries in whose group Spain is not included.
“Are they a BRICS country? Well, they are a BRICS country. Spain. Do you know what a BRICS country is? You will find out. But if the BRICs countries want to do that [quizá en referencia a su plan de moneda alternativa]okay, but we are going to put at least one 100% tariff in the businesses with the United States ”,
