How Pedro Sánchez became Donald Trump’s nemesis in Europe

{"text":[[{"start":10.45,"text":"As he warned that the US risked triggering a spiral of war with its “illegal” attack on Iran, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also delivered a pointed rebuke to Donald Trump that no other European leader would dare to make."}],[{"start":26.54,"text":"Arguing that politicians should make people’s lives better, Sánchez said: “It is absolutely unacceptable that those leaders who are incapable of fulfilling that duty use the smoke of war to hide their failures and, in the process, line the pockets of a few — the only ones who win when the world stops building hospitals to start making missiles.”"}],[{"start":48.72,"text":"It was the kind of jibe — an allusion to plutocracy and inequality — rarely heard so explicitly from an EU leader. Some have tried to appeal to Trump’s vanity and personal interests, whether through state visits, gilded gifts or golfing contests. Others have tried ideological mimicry or simply played down their obvious disagreements."}],[{"start":72.62,"text":"But Sánchez — who is the EU’s most senior socialist leader and stands to the left of his British counterpart Keir Starmer — is the only one taking the fight to the US president."}],[{"start":84.4,"text":"Conversely, Sánchez has become the perfect “wokeist” whipping boy for Trump’s Maga movement, the model of a European leftist perceived to be soft on defence, on China and on migration."}],[{"start":97.64,"text":"After more than a year of simmering enmity, the war in the Middle East has now brought the conflict between Trump and Sánchez to a head. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":107.23,"text":"The question looming over the Spanish leader, a self-declared pacifist, is whether he has pushed things too far: not only has he refused to let the US use two jointly operated military bases in Spain to strike Iran, he has also launched a broadside against the US-Israeli attacks by likening them to the “unjust” 2003 invasion of Iraq."}],[{"start":132.46,"text":"Trump, in turn, has threatened to punish “terrible” Spain for the veto on bases by cutting off US trade with the country. “We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” the US president said on Monday, raising the possibility of a blanket “embargo” to halt commerce."}],[{"start":151.14000000000001,"text":"While Sánchez has suffered nothing more than verbal brickbats until now, analysts wonder if he is about to feel Trump’s wrath."}],[{"start":160.18,"text":"“Iran represents a miscalculation for Spain,” said Juan Luis Manfredi, senior lecturer in foreign policy at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. “The US will find other ports or bases from which to launch its operations. Spain gains nothing from this equation and risks reinforcing its position as a political opponent at a particularly sensitive moment.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":184.92000000000002,"text":"The Spanish sectors that export most to the US are olive oil, wine, ceramics, electrical equipment and machinery. But in aggregate terms Spain has less direct trade exposure to the US than the Eurozone as a whole, according to the Bank of Spain. The US received 4.6 per cent of Spanish exports in 2025, far below the average for Eurozone exporters."}],[{"start":211.51000000000002,"text":"But Spain’s dependence on US gas imports is a potentially severe pain point, Manfredi noted. "}],[{"start":218.9,"text":"The country is one of Europe’s liquefied natural gas hubs and the US accounted for 31 per cent of its supply in the past 12 months — with the figure rising to 44 per cent in January, according to Enagás, Spain’s national gas operator. "}],[{"start":237.03,"text":"“Energy prices could ultimately derail the current government,” Manfredi said."}],[{"start":242.36,"text":"For a time, the ideological differences between Trump and Sánchez served both sides well. Standing up to Trump was popular with Sánchez’s leftwing base and even with Spaniards not otherwise inclined to like the premier after nearly eight years in power."}],[{"start":261.3,"text":"Amanda Sloat, once a Europe adviser to former US president Joe Biden and now a professor at IE University in Spain, said: “Sanchez has been the European leader who most consistently and publicly has pushed back against the things Trump has done that he doesn’t like. His public criticism is even more noticeable given the studied silence of most other European leaders.”"}],[{"start":287.34000000000003,"text":"That has captured the attention of the Maga movement, including Elon Musk, who has been one of Sánchez’s most vocal critics. "}],[{"start":296.54,"text":"Last month, after the prime minister said he would seek to ban children under the age of 16 from access to social media, Musk said on his X platform: “Dirty Sánchez is a tyrant and traitor to the people of Spain.” "}],[{"start":312.37,"text":"The Heritage Foundation, a think-tank closely aligned with the Maga movement, has criticised Spain for blaming US-China tensions on American protectionism. "}],[{"start":324.41,"text":"Last year, as Sánchez prepared to visit Chinese President Xi Jinping for the third time in two years, US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent warned that aligning more closely with China “would be cutting your own throat”."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":340.79,"text":"The Heritage Foundation has also said Spaniards are being put at risk by Madrid’s “unserious” national security strategy. "}],[{"start":350.59000000000003,"text":"Sánchez’s last public clash with Trump came last June when he refused to agree to Nato’s new requirement to spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence. The president accused Spain of seeking a “free ride” and threatened to “make them pay twice as much” in tariffs. But the US did not follow through."}],[{"start":373.42,"text":"The integrated nature of European supply chains makes it hard to hit Spanish goods with tariffs without impacting other EU countries. But Trump has a wide range of tools available, including a full embargo that could be far more damaging to Spain."}],[{"start":391.47,"text":"Bessent dodged a question on an embargo on CNBC on Wednesday, but said: “The Spanish put American lives at risk.” "}],[{"start":400.95000000000005,"text":"Later in the day, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Spain had changed course and agreed to “co-operate” with the US military. Spain then “categorically denied” that claim, with foreign minister José Manuel Albares saying its stance had “not changed one iota”."}],[{"start":421.53000000000003,"text":"French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, expressed his solidarity with Spain in a phone call with Sánchez."}],[{"start":430.12,"text":"At home, the prime minister’s critics have accused him of pursuing a foreign policy designed to boost his domestic political fortunes."}],[{"start":438.4,"text":"Paco Camas, head of public opinion in Spain for polling firm Ipsos, said Sánchez’s opposition to Trump created a bind for the conservative People’s party, the main opposition, whose voters mostly disapprove of the US president. The rightwing populist Vox party, however, is more willing to take Trump’s side."}],[{"start":460.4,"text":"Camas said a bigger plus for Sánchez was that the Iran war has “let him take the initiative, have his own voice, occupy space and gain attention”."}],[{"start":471.03,"text":"On the global stage, Sánchez sought to head off accusations that his stance was unrealistic. “I believe our position is not naive at all,” he said. "}],[{"start":481.10999999999996,"text":"“We will not be complicit in something that is bad for the world, and is contrary to our values and interests, simply out of fear of reprisals from somebody.”"}],[{"start":490.48999999999995,"text":"Additional reporting by Andy Bounds in Brussels and Carmen Muela in Madrid. Data visualisation by Alan Smith"}],[{"start":509.11999999999995,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1772759321_7038.mp3"}