In the days after the United States and Israel commenced missile strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, a rumor circulated online that U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to invade Spain.
For example, on March 4, one X user quoted another account's post featuring a video of Trump speaking in the Oval Office. The X user wrote (archived):
This is how the US empire treats its European vassals, sorry I mean "allies":
Trump threatens to invade Spain and forcibly use its military bases at gunpoint, because Spain refuses to support the US war of aggression against Iran.
The US empire has no friends, only interests.
In the footage, which also showed the president discussing NATO military spending, Trump said (detail in parentheses ours):
Spain has been terrible. In fact, I told Scott [Bessent, Treasury secretary] to cut off all dealings with Spain.
( ... )
Spain actually said that we can't use their bases. And that's all right. We could use their base if we want. We could just fly in and use it. Nobody's going to tell us not to use it.
Other iterations of the claim appeared elsewhere on X and on Facebook.
In short, the clip was authentic, meaning it was not the product of digital editing or artificial intelligence software. It did show Trump making these remarks. Whether his comments constituted a threat to invade Spain is open to interpretation. For this reason, we did not rate the claim true or false.
In an email, a White House spokesperson referred us to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's March 4 press briefing, during which she told reporters Spain was now cooperating with the U.S. military. In response, sources in the Spanish government told Snopes "this is not true. We categorically deny it," echoing comments Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister José Manuel Albares gave to a Spanish radio station on March 4.
We contacted the White House to ask if Leavitt made a mistake and will update this article if we receive a response.
Trump's quote, in context
The video was of a March 3 meeting between Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The White House posted the full recording on its YouTube channel.
In the video, a reporter asked Trump whether he would ask European countries to help the U.S. in its attack against Iran — after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised the joint U.S.-Israel action and said there was "widespread support in Europe" for it. The president responded by saying (at the 10:38 mark, emphasis and details in parentheses ours):
Well, some of the European nations have been helpful and some haven't, and I'm, you know, very surprised. Germany's been great. He's [Merz] been terrific. Others have been very good, terrific. I think that the head of NATO, Mark, is fantastic. Okay, Mark Rutte, I think he's fantastic.
But some of the European, like, Spain has been terrible. In fact, I told Scott [Bessent] to cut off all dealings with Spain. Spain, first of all, it started when every, every European nation, at my request, paid 5% [Trump was referring to a commitment of NATO member countries to contribute 5% of their gross domestic product to NATO by 2035], which they should be doing, and everybody was enthusiastic about it. Germany, everybody.
And Spain didn't do it. And now Spain actually said that we can't use their bases. And that's all right. We don't, we could use their base if we want. We could just fly in and use it. Nobody's going to tell us not to use it, but we don't have to. But they were unfriendly. And so I told him, "We don't want to." Spain has absolutely nothing that we need other than great people. They have great people, but they don't have great leadership.
And as you know, they were the only country that in NATO would not agree to go up to 5%. I don't think they wanted, agreed to go up to anything. They wanted to keep it at 2% and they don't pay the 2%. So we we're going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don't want anything to do with Spain.
Spain refused to let U.S. use jointly-operated military bases on its soil
It is correct that Spain did not agree to let the United States use military bases on its soil in support of the U.S. operation against Iran.
On March 2, two days after the initial U.S.-Israel strikes, reputable news media outlets reported that Spain had banned the U.S. from using two bases — in Rota and Morón, jointly operated by the two countries — invoking Article Two of the 1988 Agreement on Defense Cooperation between the U.S. and Spain, which reads:
Spain grants to the United States of America the use of operational and support installations and grants authorizations for use of Spanish territory, territorial sea and airspace for purposes within the bilateral or multilateral scope of this Agreement. Any use beyond these purposes will require the prior authorization of the Government of Spain. The foregoing authorizations shall be carried out in accordance with Chapters II and III of this Agreement.
In sum, Trump is incorrect that the U.S. "could" use the bases without Spain's permission. According to their defense cooperation agreement, a decision to defy Madrid's wishes would be against international law.
(After Trump said he was seeking to cut off all trade between the two nations, Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez reiterated his refusal to assist the U.S. in its attack on Iran.)
While Trump incorrectly said the U.S. "could" use the military bases in defiance of Spain's decision, he also added "we don't have to" and "we don't want to. Spain has absolutely nothing we need." In other words, it is open to debate whether his assertion that the U.S. "could" use the bases without Spain's consent constitutes a threat to do so.
In addition, rather than using the bases without permission, Trump said he instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to cut off all trade between the U.S. and Spain, indicating he favored a trade embargo to unilateral military action. (U.S. law says the president has the power to impose trade embargoes during times of war or national emergency.)
In a briefing to the press on March 4, Leavitt said Spain was now cooperating. "With respect to Spain, I think they heard the president's message yesterday loud and clear," she told reporters (at the 16:37 mark in this video). "It's my understanding, over the past several hours, they've agreed to cooperate with the U.S. military and so I know that the U.S. military is coordinating with their counterparts in Spain."
In an emailed statement, sources in the Spanish government denied Leavitt's assertion:
In response to questions about the White House statement regarding alleged military cooperation with Spain, we would like to clarify: This is not true. We categorically deny it. Spain's position has not changed.
The statement echoed what Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister José Manuel Albares told several news media outlets, including the radio station SER, on March 4.
"We deny this categorically," he said. "Spain's position has absolutely not changed."
Snopes awaits a response from the White House.