Democrats Join Spanish Prime Minister, Progressives at Barcelona for Takedown of Trump

As Spain’s prime minister ratchets up his rhetoric against the United States and Israel, Democratic representatives rallied with him and other progressives at Barcelona over the weekend to upbraid the American president on foreign shores.On Saturday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez hosted overlapping meetings of progressives, including the IV Meeting in Defense of Democracy, an international gathering of politicians first organized by Spain, Brazil, and Chile in 2024 to combat “extremism, polarization and misinformation.” He also launched the first-of-its-kind Global Progressive Summit, supported by Alex and George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Minnesota’s outgoing governor, Tim Walz, joined President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, President Gustavo Petro of Colombia and leaders of 10 other countries at the overlapping events. Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, also attended. Senator Bernie Sanders and New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, sent in video addresses to the event.While international leaders did not mention President Trump by name, the American representatives aggressively name-checked the president.“We’ve got a feeble-minded, trigger-happy president who plunged us into a war where no threat was present, with no clear objectives and no exit plan,” said Mr. Walz, who called the war against Iran “fascism” or at least “fascist-curious.”Mr. Murphy called Mr. Trump “the most significant threat to democracy since the Civil War” whose goal is “oligarchic capture.” He described America as a “nation in crisis” in the “middle of a totalitarian takeover.” Lumping the president with conservative allies like France’s Marine LePen, Hungary’s recently defeated prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and conservative parties in Germany and Brazil, Mr. Murphy said progressives must learn from these coalitions.“These rightwing movements, they learn from each other. They copy one another’s tactics of democratic destruction and they count on us to be divided, to argue over purity tests while they dismantle our freedoms,” he said.“But to beat them, we must learn from each other too,” he added in a clip posted on X in which he called the event “necessary to beat back the forces of fascism.”On Sunday, Mr. Sánchez, an outspoken critic of Mr. Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called for the European Union to drop its association agreement with Israel, a comprehensive treaty in force since 2000 that established a free trade agreement and a framework for political dialogue. The EU has a similar arrangement with the Palestinian Authority.“The time has come for the EU to break its Association Agreement with Israel. We have nothing against the people of Israel; quite the contrary. But a Government that violates international law and, therefore, the principles and values of the EU cannot be our partner. NO TO WAR,” Mr. Sanchez said at a political rally, his second of the weekend.While the Democrats targeted the president on Saturday, he responded on his Truth Social account slamming Spain’s management.“Has anybody looked at how badly the country of Spain is doing. Their financial numbers, despite contributing almost nothing to NATO and their military defense, are absolutely horrendous. Sad to watch!!!” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social.This is the latest squabble between the president and the Spanish prime minister. At the start of the U.S. and Israeli-led military conflict against Iran, Spain refused to allow use of its airbases, a denial that led Mr. Trump to threaten to cut off all trade with Spain, one of 27 members of the European Union that collectively negotiates trade deals with America. “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain,” Mr. Trump said during a March 3 meeting with Germany’s Chancellor, Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office. “We don’t want anything to do with Spain.” The contentious remarks by two Americans on foreign soil are not the first to break with the tradition of domestic politics stopping at the water’s edge. As far back as 2016, President Obama criticized candidate Trump while traveling in Japan. In February, the Democratic governor of California, Gavin Newsom, traveled to the Munich Security Conference, where the 2028 would-be presidential contender and several other American politicians accused Mr. Trump of “doubling down on stupid.” Some Republicans also reportedly criticized the president while at the event, though none said so on the record.Mr. Trump himself is not shy of criticizing his opposition while abroad or insulting foreign guests while they sit in the Oval Office. However, the latest comments raised criticism among some who lament the coarsening of political speech and questions by those who asked whether the overseas meeting amounts to something more than First Amendment expression.“Many of these groups are fascist, anti-American, and Communists. Attending this event as a U.S. Senator while bashing America is very concerning to me. This was an error in judgment to legitimize these groups,” wrote an American diplomat and former advisor to Mr. Trump, Richard Grenell. “Chris Murphy has crossed a red line,” wrote a Republican primary candidate, Amy Chai, who is seeking to challenge Representative John Larsen in Connecticut.

Democrats Join Spanish Prime Minister, Progressives at Barcelona for Takedown of Trump

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