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World leaders have scrambled and sometimes struggled to take a clear position regarding the war in Iran. But one European leader has been keen to take the role of standing up to President Trump. NPR's Miguel Macias reports from Seville, Spain.
MIGUEL MACIAS, BYLINE: When President Trump decided to vent about the Spanish government from the Oval Office last week, he did not hold back.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Spain has absolutely nothing that we need other than great people. They have great people, but they don't have great leadership.
MACIAS: There was already bad blood between Trump and the Spanish government. Last year, Spain refused to raise military spending to 5% of its GDP, as Trump had insisted all NATO countries do. But then this happened. The weekend the U.S. and Israel launched the attack on Iran, flight records showed at least 15 in-flight refueling planes leaving two jointly operated military bases in the south of Spain after not being allowed to provide support for the military action in Iran. That seemed to be the last straw for President Trump.
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TRUMP: So we're going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don't want anything to do with Spain.
MACIAS: The next morning, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez didn't sound at all intimidated.
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PRIME MINISTER PEDRO SANCHEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: "We say no to breaking the international law that protects us all, especially the civilian population," Sanchez said.
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SANCHEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: "No to accepting that the world can only solve its problems through conflicts and bombs. And in short, four words."
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SANCHEZ: No a la guerra.
MACIAS: "No to the war." For Spaniards of a certain age, the historical connection was difficult to miss. That motto, no a la guerra, was printed on T-shirts, chanted at protests against the war - the Iraq war, that is - back in 2003.
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JOSE MARIA AZNAR: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: Then-Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar sided with President George W. Bush, assuring citizens that Iraq's then-President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. And back then, millions of protesters in Spain poured into the streets to oppose that war.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: No a la guerra. No a la guerra.
MACIAS: Aznar's conservative Popular Party paid the price at the ballot box and lost the election the following year, 2004, to Sanchez's party, the socialists. Back then, Sanchez was not even an elected official. Fast forward to today.
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SANCHEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: "In 2003 and in 2026, Spain will always say no to the war," he said over the weekend on the campaign trail for an upcoming regional election.
MARIA RAMIREZ: For Pedro Sanchez, it's quite convenient to criticize Trump in a country where around 77% of citizens, according to a YouGov poll, have an unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump.
MACIAS: That's Maria Ramirez. She's deputy managing editor of the online news site eldiario.es. She says that polls also show that most Spaniards are against the Iran war.
RAMIREZ: So Sanchez is gaining popular support, perhaps. And he's not risking as much, let's say, as other bigger countries in Europe.
MACIAS: Countries like France and the U.K., with more powerful militaries and nuclear weapons.
RAMIREZ: So you could say that Sanchez is the moral conscience of Europe, but you could also say he's a backseat driver.
MACIAS: That's partly because Sanchez is struggling to control his government coalition and he's facing a tough election in 2027. Sanchez is known for adapting, even embracing opposing ideas over time to remain in power, and now he seems to be betting it all on opposing Trump and the war in Iran, while conservative politicians are making the opposite bet and going all out.
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ISABEL DIAZ AYUSO: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: That's the president of the region of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, a rising conservative star, telling adversaries, quote, "I encourage you to take a walk around Tehran while drunk and alone, or wear a miniskirt in Kabul. Go ahead. Travel there and take your gay friends with you to watch how they're hanged from cranes, because that's the way they treat women and homosexuals in those countries," unquote. But with a sizable portion of even conservative voters in Spain opposing the war, according to polls, Sanchez's bet might just be the winning one. Miguel Macias, NPR News, Seville, Spain. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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