Spain's Pedro Sánchez hits back at Trump threat to sever trade saying 'no to war'

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has delivered a strong rebuttal to US President Donald Trump's threat to end trade with Spain by declaring his opposition to war and what he called the "breakdown of international law".

In a 10-minute televised address Sánchez reflected on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as the Iraq War more than 20 years ago and said "the government's position can be summed up in four words: No to war".

Trump threatened to impose a full trade embargo on Spain in response to Madrid's refusal to allow the US to use the jointly run bases at Morón and Rotafor for strikes on Iran.

"Spain has been terrible," Trump said during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday.

"We're going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don't want anything to do with Spain," he added.

Merz said later he had told Trump very clearly that he could not conclude a separate agreement with Germany or all of Europe but not with Spain.

In his televised address from the prime minister's residence at La Moncloa, Sánchez asserted that one "illegality" could not be met with another.

He spoke of the "disaster" of the war in the Middle East, two days after he had appealed for both sides to pull back from conflict and respect international law.

Trump has also accused Spain of being a "terrible partner" in Nato for failing to increase its defence budget in line with a target of 5% of economic output (GDP).