When Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez forbade U.S. forces from using Spanish bases to support the war in Iran and then banned U.S. military overflights, President Donald Trump was furious, but Sanchez stood firm.
“We are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world,” Sánchez declared in a Mar. 4 televised address. Trump called the decision “terrible” and “uncooperative,” and responded, “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
Trump’s anger is legitimate, but he takes the wrong approach. As Sanchez battles a corruption investigation targeting his wife and associates, he seeks to pick a fight with Trump to rally his own socialist base. Name-calling plays into his hands.
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Nor is the denial of access to Naval Station Rota or Moron Air Base the major problem for the United States. As special forces veteran Jose Lev Alvarez Gomez points out, Sanchez has quietly sold military technology and equipment to Tehran to advance the Islamic Republic’s drone program. Put another way, under Sanchez’s fiercely anti-American foreign policy, he not only hampers the White House, but he also aids terrorists and the killing of Americans.
Trump should speak softly and wield a stick far larger than trade sanctions.
First, Trump should demand that the State Department designate Spain a state sponsor of terrorism. For too long, the State Department has treated terrorist designations subjectively, giving passes to certain countries, including Pakistan, Turkey, and Qatar, while punishing those like Cuba whose regimes might be odious, but whose terrorist connections are slight.
Sanchez’s embrace of Hamas and Spain’s material support of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warrant designation. Frankly, the very discussion about such sanctions will have an immediate impact. Trump must show that the age of smug anti-American armchair socialists who believe they can cast aspersions without consequence is over.
Second, Trump should call out Spain’s hypocrisy. Sanchez treats Israel as a colonial project and espouses former Irish President Mary Robinson-levels of antisemitism. Yet Spain remains the true colonial power. It maintains two colonies in Africa: Ceuta and Melilla.
While Spaniards indignantly say this is their land, populated by Spaniards, and that Morocco is a new country, this is historically ignorant. What Sanchez and his supporters argue is that Spain should be rewarded for its successful ethnic cleansing of the enclaves. As for Morocco, it has a rich history dating back more than a millennium under various names despite the efforts of Spain and France to erase it in the early 20th century. Secretary of State Marco Rubio should designate the enclaves as occupied Moroccan territory and deny visas to any residents of the territories. Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States almost 250 years ago; it is time to reward that friendship.
Nor are Ceuta and Melilla Spain’s only occupied territories. “Palestine” has never existed as an independent state, Sanchez’s rhetoric notwithstanding. But if Sanchez can reward terrorism and unilaterally recognize a disputed territory, then the U.S. can too in Spain. The Basques have suffered for centuries under the Spanish yoke. Euskadi, the Basque Country, was never independent, but it enjoyed centuries of de facto sovereignty due to the Basques’ prominence in the Kingdom of Navarre. Into the 19th century, the Basques enjoyed legal and financial autonomy. Trump should allow Basque representatives to establish an embassy in Washington, much as the Baltic states did when under Soviet domination.
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The same, too, might be applied to Catalonia. The Catalans deserve support regardless of who is in the White House. Yale University will begin teaching Catalan next year in recognition of its unique culture. In 2017, Catalans unilaterally declared independence; Trump might urge Rubio at least to study becoming the first country to recognize the Catalan Republic. While Catalans are traditionally leftist, if they had U.S. support, Washington might discover they could win hearts and minds.
Spaniards may cry about Florida or the American Southwest, but this just furthers their ignorance. America is a melting pot; Spain is not. America can survive this debate; Spain will not.
Michael Rubin is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential. He is the director of analysis at the Middle East Forum and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.