REPUBLICAN Senator Lindsey Graham has called on Donald Trump to shut down military bases in Andalucia.
Graham, a heavyweight in U.S. foreign policy, responded to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s decision to deny the US access to the military bases at Rota and Moron for its offensive against Iran.
In an interview with Fox News, the senator said: “Tonight, I urge President Trump to move all our bases out of Spain.”
“Should we have air bases in a country that won’t allow us to use those planes to protect the world against a religiously motivated Nazi regime?” he continued.
Then, he insisted: “Our friends in Spain have lost their way. I no longer want to do business with you. I want our air bases out of Spain and moved to a country that will allow us to use them.”
The comments mark the latest of a series of jabs directed towards Spain and Sanchez.
He condemned Sanchez’s decision and his ‘no to war’ stance.
Writing on X (formerly Twitter) on March 2, Graham wrote: ‘the current government in Spain is becoming the gold standard of pathetically weak European leadership’.
When Trump threatened to ‘cut off all dealings with Spain’, Graham reacted by posting on social media.
He referenced the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, when Spaniards and bulls run through the streets writing, ‘From this day forward, I will always pull for the bulls’ and ‘Long live the bull’.
Graham also reacted to the Iranian President, Masoud Pezeskhian’s, praise of Spain.
On social media, Pezeskhian wrote: “Spain’s responsible conduct in opposing the Zionist-American coalition’s flagrant human rights violations and military aggression against countries, including Iran, shows that ethics and awakened consciences still exist in the West.”
Senator Graham commented on this message and added: “To our friends in Spain: Receiving recognition from the Iranian regime should be a wake-up call. If not, it’s very sad. They have lost their way.”
The Spanish government has stuck to its stance, despite criticisms from the US.
Spain’s Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, was asked whether the threat of a trade cutoff would alter Spain’s position.
Albares told radio station Cadena Ser: “The Spanish government’s position on the war in the Middle East ?and ?the bombing of Iran regarding the use of our bases has not changed at all.”
President Trump has not yet acted on Graham’s calls to shut down the bases.
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