Fifty days of silence. The Trump administration has called Botsuana, has spoken with Paraguay, has maintained contacts with Hungary and Cyprus. But not with Spain, with whom it has two military bases for shared use, those of Rota and Morón. In a moment of … Maximum pressure on the Sánchez government for being the NATO ally that less invests in defense and for its risk of entering the list of European countries penalized with tariffs for applying tax on added value, the State Department has not yet raised the phone to call Madrid.
The only interlocution between Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares and United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio took place on January 21 and It was unidirectional. The head of Spanish diplomacy congratulated him for X after his appointment: “Let’s continue working in our strategic bilateral relationship and to face common challenges from the essential transatlantic unity.”
Spain is, together with Brazil and South Africa, one of the last G20 countries that has not yet been contacted by the Trump administration, despite its status as a permanent guest in the group. Meanwhile, the head of American diplomacy, Rubio, has held conversations with his counterparts from Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Türkiye. For his part, the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegsethhas talked with his South Korean counterpart, and Donald Trump himself has spoken directly with the heads of government of Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Rubio did not answer the message of Albares. As ABC has learned, they have not had any conversation. This same source warns that Albares “Nor has you asked for”. From the Office of Diplomatic Information (OID) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs they have not responded to the consultation of this newspaper on this matter. Although your duty as a public service is to attend Any means of communicationThey have chosen to ignore ABC. “If we have any comments to transfer it we will do it,” was the response of the OID on Thursday. From these pages they were not asked for any comment, they simply answered two questions: has José Manuel Albares spoken with Marco Rubio? Has the minister asked for a telephone meeting or conversation with him?
Trump has been openly critical with the countries to which he has decided not to contact. With respect to South Africa, its administration has suspended all help and assistance, arguing that the recent law of expropriation of discriminates to the ethnic minority Afrikáner by allowing the confiscation of properties without compensation. In addition, he offered a quick way towards American citizenship for South African farmers who sought refuge in the United States.
As to Brazilrelations have been affected by the commercial policies of the United States. Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs on BRICS countries, a group to which Brazil belongs, if they do not increase their defense expenditure. This position has led the BRICS to reinforce their alliance and promote trade with local currencies, to counteract the protectionist measures of the United States. (Trump said in January that Spain is a country of the BRICs).
The message from Washington is clear: Spain is not among the immediate priorities of the new administration. Not when it is decided what allies should be in the first line of Trump’s geopolitical reorganization, or when the distribution of charges in the Atlantic Alliance is discussed, not even when the new commercial war with the EU is outlined. With each day that passes without a call from the White House or the State Department, the possibility of that Instead of an oversight, be it a deliberate calculation. American diplomacy refuses to give explanations about ABC.
While the minister saw how Rubio called some of his counterparts and looked with others, the head of Spanish diplomacy trusted to have a brief encounter with him during the Munich security conference of a couple of weeks ago. There, however, although they saw each other, Rubio did not take time to talk with the minister. Albares did not put much interest either, although Spain should put more effort. Among the issues to be addressed, that the Sánchez government is most interested in knowing, is whether the Trump administration will bet on maintaining the agreement for the use of the military bases of Morón and broken from the USA or if, on the contrary, he will transfer them to Morocco.
These are also days of febrile contacts of European partners with Washington. EU members are looking for exemptions to tariffs that can exceed 20% and Trump will apply in April in response to taxes that he considers harmful. Apart from the conversations with blonde of partners such as Hungary, Poland, Ireland, Greece And others have visited the White House or have seen Trump out of it the French Emanuel Macronthe British Keir Starmer and the Italian Giorgia Meloni.
The absence of contact between the Trump administration and the Spanish government contrasts with Recent precedents. On February 16, 2021, just days after assuming the position, the then Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the then Foreign Minister of Spain, Arancha González Layato reaffirm the bilateral relationship and strengthen transatlantic cooperation. On February 7, 2017, with only 17 days at the White House, Trump also held a telephone conversation with the then president of the Government, Mariano Rajoywithin its first rounds of contact with strategic allies. He received him bilaterally in Washington in September of that year.
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