US and Iran to talk next week; Trump threatens Spain for defence miss
President Donald Trump assailed Spain for refusing to agree to new defence spending targets adopted by NATO and suggested the country could be penalised by facing tariffs twice as high from the US.
'You're the only country that is not paying. I don't know what the problem is,' Trump said at the NATO summit at The Hague when asked about Spain balking at paying 5 per cent of their GDP on defence.
'We'll make it up. You know, we're going to do, we're negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We're going to make them pay twice as much. And I'm actually serious about that,' Trump added.
Spain's benchmark stock index extended its losses after Trump's remarks, trading down 1.6 per cent. The index was down about 1.3 per cent prior to the comments. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index, the worst-performing major European benchmark on Wednesday, was down 0.7 per cent.
'We downplay Trump's comments and we emphasise our commitment to NATO,' a spokesperson for the Spanish government said.
Spain is part of the European Union, which is racing to clinch a trade deal with Washington before tariffs on nearly all its exports to the US jump to 50per cent on July 9. The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, handles trade matters for the 27-member bloc — individual member states don't negotiate trade deals on their own.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
37 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Labor government considering increase to defence spending following NATO
Labor is considering an increase in defence spending but will not bow to Donald Trump's 3.5 per cent of GDP request. The Albanese government is resisting lifting Australia's defence spending by adding infrastructure expenditure. It's believed many countries will fall short of their 3.5 per cent defence spending pledge given to the US President. At the NATO Summit this week, Defence Minister Richard Marles announced fresh sanctions on Russia and increased support for Ukraine while defending Australia's defence budget.
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
Trump hails end to Iran-Israel war, says US will hold nuclear talks with Iran next week
US President Donald Trump has hailed the swift end to war between Iran and Israel and says the United States will likely seek a commitment from Iran to end its nuclear ambitions at talks next week. Mr Trump said his decision to join Israel's attacks by targeting Iranian nuclear sites with huge bunker-busting bombs had ended the war, calling it 'a victory for everybody'. 'It was very severe. It was obliteration,' he said, shrugging off an initial assessment by the US Defense Intelligence Agency that Iran's path to building a nuclear weapon may have been set back only by months. Speaking in The Hague where he attended a NATO summit on Wednesday, he said he did not see Iran getting involved again in developing nuclear weapons. Iran has always denied decades of accusations by some countries that it is seeking nuclear arms. 'We're going to talk to them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement. I don't know. To me, I don't think it's that necessary,' Mr Trump said. Anxious Iranians and Israelis sought to resume normal life after the most intense confrontation ever between the two foes. Israel's nuclear agency assessed the strikes had 'set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years'. The White House also circulated the Israeli assessment, although Mr Trump said he was not relying on Israeli intelligence. He said he was confident Iran would pursue a diplomatic path towards reconciliation. 'I'll tell you, the last thing they want to do is enrich anything right now. They want to recover,' he said. If Iran tried to rebuild its nuclear program, 'We won't let that happen. Number one, militarily we won't,' he said, adding that he thought 'we'll end up having something of a relationship with Iran' to resolve the issue. The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi dismissed what he called the 'hourglass approach' of assessing damage to Iran's nuclear program in terms of months needed to rebuild as besides the point for an issue that needed a long-term solution. 'In any case, the technological knowledge is there and the industrial capacity is there. That, no one can deny. So we need to work together with them,' he said. His priority was returning international inspectors to Iranian nuclear sites, which he said was the only way to find out precisely what state they were in. Israel's bombing campaign, launched with a surprise attack on June 13, wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military leadership and killed leading nuclear scientists. Iranian forces responded with missiles that pierced Israel's defences in large numbers for the first time. Iranian authorities said 627 people were killed and nearly 5000 injured in Iran, where the extent of the damage could not be independently confirmed because of tight restrictions on media. Twenty-eight people were killed in Israel. Israel claimed to have achieved its goals of destroying Iran's nuclear sites and missiles; Iran claimed to have forced the end of the war by penetrating Israeli defences. Mr Trump said both sides were exhausted but the conflict could restart. Israel's demonstration that it could target Iran's senior leadership seemingly at will poses perhaps the biggest challenge yet for Iran's clerical rulers, at a critical juncture when they must find a successor for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, now 86 and in power for 36 years. President Masoud Pezeshkian, a relative moderate elected last year in a challenge to years of dominance by hardliners, said it could result in reform. 'This war and the empathy that it fostered between the people and officials is an opportunity to change the outlook of management and the behaviour of officials so that they can create unity,' he said in a statement carried by state media. Still, Iran's authorities moved swiftly to demonstrate their control. The judiciary announced the execution of three men on Wednesday convicted of collaborating with Israel's Mossad spy agency and smuggling equipment used in an assassination. Iran had arrested 700 people accused of ties with Israel during the conflict, the state-affiliated Nournews reported.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Trump says Iran talks set for next week after ‘obliteration'
US President Donald Trump has hailed the swift end to war between Iran and Israel and says the United States will likely seek a commitment from Iran to end its nuclear ambitions at talks next week. Mr Trump said his decision to join Israel's attacks by targeting Iranian nuclear sites with huge bunker-busting bombs had ended the war, calling it 'a victory for everybody'. 'It was very severe. It was obliteration,' he said, shrugging off an initial assessment by the US Defense Intelligence Agency that Iran's path to building a nuclear weapon may have been set back only by months. Speaking in The Hague where he attended a NATO summit on Wednesday, he said he did not see Iran getting involved again in developing nuclear weapons. Iran has always denied decades of accusations by some countries that it is seeking nuclear arms. 'We're going to talk to them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement. I don't know. To me, I don't think it's that necessary,' Mr Trump said. Anxious Iranians and Israelis sought to resume normal life after the most intense confrontation ever between the two foes. Israel's nuclear agency assessed the strikes had 'set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years'. The White House also circulated the Israeli assessment, although Mr Trump said he was not relying on Israeli intelligence. He said he was confident Iran would pursue a diplomatic path towards reconciliation. 'I'll tell you, the last thing they want to do is enrich anything right now. They want to recover,' he said. If Iran tried to rebuild its nuclear program, 'We won't let that happen. Number one, militarily we won't,' he said, adding that he thought 'we'll end up having something of a relationship with Iran' to resolve the issue. The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi dismissed what he called the 'hourglass approach' of assessing damage to Iran's nuclear program in terms of months needed to rebuild as besides the point for an issue that needed a long-term solution. 'In any case, the technological knowledge is there and the industrial capacity is there. That, no one can deny. So we need to work together with them,' he said. His priority was returning international inspectors to Iranian nuclear sites, which he said was the only way to find out precisely what state they were in. Israel's bombing campaign, launched with a surprise attack on June 13, wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military leadership and killed leading nuclear scientists. Iranian forces responded with missiles that pierced Israel's defences in large numbers for the first time. Iranian authorities said 627 people were killed and nearly 5000 injured in Iran, where the extent of the damage could not be independently confirmed because of tight restrictions on media. Twenty-eight people were killed in Israel. Israel claimed to have achieved its goals of destroying Iran's nuclear sites and missiles; Iran claimed to have forced the end of the war by penetrating Israeli defences. Mr Trump said both sides were exhausted but the conflict could restart. Israel's demonstration that it could target Iran's senior leadership seemingly at will poses perhaps the biggest challenge yet for Iran's clerical rulers, at a critical juncture when they must find a successor for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, now 86 and in power for 36 years. President Masoud Pezeshkian, a relative moderate elected last year in a challenge to years of dominance by hardliners, said it could result in reform. 'This war and the empathy that it fostered between the people and officials is an opportunity to change the outlook of management and the behaviour of officials so that they can create unity,' he said in a statement carried by state media. Still, Iran's authorities moved swiftly to demonstrate their control. The judiciary announced the execution of three men on Wednesday convicted of collaborating with Israel's Mossad spy agency and smuggling equipment used in an assassination. Iran had arrested 700 people accused of ties with Israel during the conflict, the state-affiliated Nournews reported.
