Donald Trump has won the US general election and will soon be back in the White House.
As The Local has already covered in great detail, his victory could have significant implications for Spain, whether it be on exports, defence spending or an emboldened far-right in domestic politics, among many other things.
Observing the relationship between the Trump White House and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s left-wing government will certainly be interesting over the next four years.
You can read all about that in the link right below.
READ ALSO: What does Trump's election victory mean for Spain?
Generally speaking, Spain and the US have had a pretty cordial relationship in recent years. Former Prime Mariano Rajoy made an official visit to the Trump White House in 2017, and Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia also went over in 2018.
Trump, despite claiming he would, never visited Spain during his first term in office, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez only went to Washington during the Biden administration. Perhaps we will see one or both of those things in the coming four years.
For now, we’ll take a look at Spain and the U.S’s relationship in recent years through the words of Trump and notable Spaniards, some of whom you might not expect.
What Trump’s said about Spain
As leader of the free world, it’s fair to say that for Trump, like any American President, Spain isn’t exactly at the top of his list of major countries to be concerned about. Countries like China, the UK, France, Germany and Japan, as well neighbours Canada and Mexico, all likely figure more highly in American foreign policy terms.
Nonetheless, Trump’s generally been quite positive about Spain — especially when you compare it to the derogatory way he's spoken about other countries in the past.
When Rajoy visited Washington, Trump spoke very kindly of Spain’s relationship with the US. “Our relationship has been excellent over the years: excellent trade relationship, military relationship,” he said. “The best you can have, so we love Spain.”
Speaking of a trip to Barcelona before he became president, Trump recalled: "We were in Spain recently and loved the country. Very special people, very beautiful country.”
However, as president he has waded into Spanish domestic politics, specifically on the issue of Catalan separatism. “I really think the people of Catalonia would stay with Spain," Trump said as he offered support to the then Prime Minister Rajoy.
"I think it would be foolish not to. You're talking about staying with a truly great, beautiful and very historic country."
On this intervention, at least, both Rajoy and Sánchez would probably welcome such words coming from the White House.
Following the 2017 terror attacks in Barcelona, Trump supported Spain (in a way) through one of his rambling early morning Twitter rants: "Radical Islamic Terrorism must be stopped by whatever means necessary! The courts must give us back our protective rights. Have to be tough!" Trump tweeted.
His interventions on immigration, however, were less successful. Trump once told Spain’s former foreign minister to “just build a wall that borders the Sahara” in order to stem migrant flows from Africa.
"'But do you know how big the Sahara is?'" the minister responded.
READ ALSO: Trump suggested Spain build Sahara wall to stem migrants
Spanish views of Trump
Spaniards have never been shy about sharing their views on Trump, for better or worse.
King Felipe, when visiting the White House, stated that the U.S and Spain “have so many common interests” and the two countries “share a historical heritage.”
Other Spaniards have been less positive, however. There was the topless Femen activist who grabbed a Trump effigy 'by the balls' in Madrid, and singer Julio Iglesias described him as a “clown.”
“I have sung many times in his casinos, but I won't do it again. He seems to be an asshole," he told Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia.
"He thinks he can fix the world forgetting what immigrants have done for his country. He is a clown! And my apologies to clowns,” the singer added.
READ ALSO: Julio Iglesias dumps Trump - 'He's a clown! And my apologies to clowns
Speaking in New York in 2016, Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar claimed that Trump “seriously would inspire a disaster movie.”
“This kind of personality type has no parallel in real life. He's like a great fictional character," the director said.
The former mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, in 2017 even made a subtle comparison between Trump and Hitler. "We know that his government has been legitimately elected and has the popular support of a large number of citizens," she said.
"But in the 20th century we experienced one of the greatest violations of human rights by a government that also initially enjoyed popular support.”
Trump sued Spanish celebrity chef José Andres for $10 million in July 2015 after he backed out of a contract to open a Spanish fine dining restaurant in Trump's luxury hotel following his comments about Mexican migrants while on the campaign trail.
Finally, though not a direct Trump quote, our favourite has to be from the diehard MAGA supporter and Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene when she got a little mixed up about the difference between the Nazi secret police and an Andalusian soup -- an easy mistake to make.
During an angry TV rant in 2022, the Georgia congresswoman criticised House Speaker "Nancy Pelosi's ‘gazpacho police’ spying on members of Congress".
READ ALSO: Pro-Trump lawmaker mocked after confusing Spanish gazpacho for Gestapo
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