Aznar's FAES calls Trump "loudmouth" and puts him at the same level as Sánchez after the clash at the NATO summit

The FAES of José María Aznar has fully entered the clash between Donald Trump and Pedro Sánchez after the NATO summit in Ankara. It has done so with a harshly worded statement, titled “Why don't you shut up?”, in which it calls the US president “impertinent histrion”, “loudmouth” and “unresolved”, but ends up also placing the head of the Spanish Government at the center of its criticisms.

The foundation chaired by the former Prime Minister accuses Trump of “offending” and “sowing confusion” with a policy of erratic shifts that, in its opinion, is too big for him to exercise the leadership of the so-called free world. FAES even uses the acronym TACO, popularized in the United States to mock Trump as someone who threatens a lot and ends up backing down.

The statement comes after a summit marked by the US president's attacks against Spain. Trump called our country a “lost cause” and “terrible ally”, threatened to cut trade and again pressed for the 5% of GDP defense target. Hours later, back home, he changed his tone and assured that Spain had “fully redeemed itself” after attending a supposed request for “numerous payments”, without clarifying what he was referring to.

FAES hits Trump, but reserves political reproach for Sánchez

The FAES text starts against Trump, but soon turns to Sánchez. The foundation maintains that Spain cannot afford its Government to “play at profiting from antagonisms” with the United States and reproaches the president for being “very meek” in Ankara while Trump attacked Spain.

The most political phrase in the statement is directed at Moncloa: “You cannot play hawk in private and dove in public, Patton in Ankara and Gandhi in Madrid”. FAES accuses Sánchez of hardening his tone against Trump when it suits him internally, but softening it when he coincides with him at an international summit.

Aznar thus once again places himself in the foreign policy debate with a double reading. He censures Trump for his manners, but takes advantage of the episode to accuse Sánchez of lack of firmness. The comparison chosen by FAES is also clear: Giorgia Meloni. The foundation presents the Italian Prime Minister as an example of a leader capable of being an ally of the United States and earning respect at the same time.

The uncomfortable point of Spain's “redemption”

The statement focuses on one of Trump's most striking phrases after the summit. The US president stated that Spain had been "fully redeemed" and spoke of "numerous payments" attended to by the Spanish Government. FAES demands that Sánchez explain in Congress what Trump meant and if there was any concrete commitment assumed by Spain in Ankara.

Moncloa has tried to downplay the US president's wavering. Sánchez assured at the end of the summit that he takes the threats "with calm and patience", defended that the relationship with the United States remains positive and recalled that trade policy is negotiated from the European Union, not country by country.

That is the part that the Government wants to emphasize. Trump can threaten to cut trade with Spain, but any real move would clash with the community framework. Brussels has already recalled that it will protect the interests of all member states and that the trade relationship with Washington is managed as a European bloc.

NATO, Iran and the struggle over military spending

FAES also places the debate on the strategic background of the summit. The foundation admits that Europe has a lot of pending work in defense and military capabilities, in a context marked by Russia, Ukraine, Iran and Trump's pressure for allies to increase their spending.

Spain maintains its position. The Government defends that 2.1% of GDP is enough to comply with the capabilities assigned by NATO and rejects converting the 5% into an automatic obligation. Sánchez has also insisted that security must be compatible with the welfare state and with a foreign policy that does not drag Spain into Trump's escalation with Iran.

The FAES of the former president, not surprisingly, does not buy that framework. For Aznar's foundation, Sánchez mixes internal calculation, propaganda and international ambiguity. That is why it demands that the president bring to Congress the explanation about Trump's words and about Spain's commitments at the summit.

The text is published one day after Ankara, when Moncloa tries to close the chapter with institutional normality and Aznar's circle seeks to open another parliamentary front on the relationship with the United States.