Donald Trump This Monday he lived the big day of his second term. He was master of ceremonies for the signing of the Middle East peace agreement, before the world and with around thirty world leaders as witnesses.
A tribute was given and it was even allowed to arrive hours late to the Egyptian town of Sharm el-Sheikhwhere everyone was waiting for him, causing enormous logistical problems for the delegations, including the Spanish one.
It was their big day for signing the agreement and their own hand-kissing ceremony was organized with the parade of heads of State and Government.
Trump’s dart at Sánchez at the Egypt summit over defense spending.
Then he made an evaluation of each of the representatives of the States, like an exam, with praise for some and scoldings for others. And addressing them as “boys” or “kids” (“guys“, in English).
A Pedro Sanchez He was once again criticized by the public for not wanting to reach 5% of GDP in military spending. The President of the Government has no intention of moving from his refusal and, furthermore, he cannot do so without Budgets and, furthermore, he would not have support from his partners.
In the strictly Spanish analysis, the historic summit in Egypt was also the opportunity to stage the truce with Trump after the disagreements on international affairs and, above all, the refusal of the Sánchez Government to raise military spending to 5%, despite agreeing to it with NATO.
Trump had threatened last Friday to expel Spain from the Atlantic Alliance.
Everything was going well: Spain had received an invitation to be at the historic event not only from Egypt, the host country, but also from the US Administration itself. And Trump had greeted Sánchez with a smile and a handshake on stage.
But Trump could not avoid including in his public intervention a reproach that exposed Sánchez: “Where is Spain? Guys, are you trying to persuade him about GDP? [en alusión a los líderes europeos] Well, we’ll get to that. “Fantastic job you are doing.”
Trump colloquially referred to the Europeans present as “guys“(“boys” or “kids”) and encouraged them to “work on him“, which literally is “working on it”, an expression used, for example, when talking about “persuading”, “convincing”, “seducing” or even “flirting”.
Sánchez, standing behind Trump, listened with a broad smile.
Moncloa keeps the last part of Trump’s intervention, that of “fantastic job“, as a recognition of the good situation of Spain, especially the economic one. Although it can be interpreted that he was actually referring to the European leaders who have to persuade Sánchez.
“All good, using irony, but recognizing the same as the last day, that we do a good job,” Moncloa officially explains, omitting the part of the increase in GDP in military spending.
“It shows that ours is not that dramatic break that the PP sells. And then he tells us that we are doing a great job. Something that he has already said other times when he has talked about Spain. He has said ‘fantastic job‘to some countries, not to the majority,” these official sources add.
The attempted truce was signed with the invitation of the president of the United States to Sánchez and with the twelve seconds of greeting between the two. Both things were good for Sánchez, keeping his distance from Trump, because proximity to him is not considered convenient for the President of the Government.
For this reason, hours before the Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albaresrecognized Trump’s “crucial role” in the agreement that can end the genocide.
The invitation
“The President of the United States invites the Chief of State or Head of Government to atend the signing of a Middle East Peace Plan“(The president of the United States invites the head of State or head of the Government to attend the signing of the peace plan for the Middle East), says the official invitation to Spain.
There is another invitation from Egypt, the State that hosts the Peace Summit in its territory, but the decision on the guests was the United States’. That is, it was Trump who invited Sánchez to the event, as Moncloa emphasizes.
For the Spanish Government, this invitation shows two things: that Sánchez’s presence in world forums has been achieved and that Trump’s threat regarding NATO membership is baseless, because “mutual relations are good”.
Politically, Sánchez maintains a position based on two pillars. On the one hand, the immovable decision not to reach 5% in military spending, because it would need to undertake social cuts and because it is materially impossible to meet it without Budgets and they cannot be approved because their partners reject it. And he understands that position to be compatible with good relations with the United States and with compliance with obligations with NATO.
On the other hand, it maintains a very tough stance against Benjamin Natanyahu for what he considers a genocide committed in Gaza, compatible with support for the peace plan promoted by Trump.
That relationship was seen this Monday, according to Moncloa, in the greeting between Sánchez and Trump, with a certain cordiality and greater ease on the part of the American and more discomfort on the part of the President of the Government, who resisted the physical approach.
They explain that if Trump had wanted to distance himself he would have done so, because it was his big day and because he has already shown that he does it when he sees fit, without regard.
The Government defends that decisions such as the recognition of Palestine or the embargo on the purchase and sale of military material to Israel have forced the ceasefire in Gaza. Because it was followed by other European states and served to pressure Netanyahu.
The Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albaresexplained this Monday in Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt) that work must be done to rebuild Gaza and offer a future to Gazans, as well as to continue advancing in “the two-state solution.” He added that Spain wants to participate in the peace process and the reconstruction of Gaza.