Senator Lindsey Graham asks Trump to take US bases from Spain for not supporting the war against Iran

“I want our bases and air bases outside of Spain“Graham said in an interview on Fox News in which he asked NATO allied countries to make the same decision.

Graham, Trump’s loyal ally and Known for his very interventionist profile in foreign policy, he assures that All the planes of his country and its allies “must leave Spain” because, in his opinion, they have opposed being part of a war to “bring down the regime” of Iran.

That is to say, close the Rota and Morón bases after the Government did not allow its use for the war in Iran.

These statements of the Republican senator from South Carolina since 2003, in the middle of the Iraq war, take place during a long interview in which he analyzed the first 10 days of the United States war campaign in Iranian territory.

In it he addressed all US allies and NATO countries. “I ask our allies, if they cannot join this fight, what fight are they going to join? To Spain: don’t you allow us to use your bases, well, our air bases in your country, to prevent a homicidal regime from obtaining nuclear weapons that terrorize the world?” he questioned.

And it goes further: “We have a commitment with Spain under Article 5 of NATO, but does we should have air bases in a country that does not allow us to use those planes to protect the world against a Nazi regime of a religious nature?”

Influential figure within the party for decades and defender of a policy tough exterior, Graham further believes that “n“Our friends in Spain have lost their way.” and make it clear that “I don’t want to do business with them anymore”after heLast week Trump threatened to cut off all trade with Spain for not allowing the use of the Morón and Rota bases.

“I want our air bases to leave Spain and moved to a country that allows us to use them“insisted the Republican, who has defended that the US seeks to build “a new Middle East.”

This is not the first time Lindsey Graham charge against our country since the beginning of the war. Already last week he launched several criticisms, among them that he has a Government that “is becoming the role model of a pathetically weak European leadership that has lost its way” and obsessed with criticizing the US.

Nor did he hesitate to describe Sánchez’s Executive as an “aberration” and to say that, “from now on I will encourage the bulls, long live the bull!”

Ideologically Graham is considered a conservative “hawk” on defense and foreign policy, that is, very favorable to the use of force and a strong US role in the world.

Graham’s relationship with the MAGA world – the hardest Trumpist base – is ambivalent: very close to Trump personally, but never fully accepted by the MAGA core.

In fact, he has had specific clashes with Trump and MAGA when criticizing the idea of ​​pardoning those convicted of the assault on the Capitol or for showing objections to certain Trump positions on Ukraine.

Despite this, he is loyal to Trump and supports him on issues such as border security, the election of judges and taxes.

In fact, at the beginning of Trump phenomenon, Graham was one of his harshest Republican critics, but later became one of his most visible allies.

During the 2016 primaries, he called Trump “crazy”, “unfit for office” and a “racial inciter, xenophobe and religious fanatic”. The tycoon did not hesitate to respond by attacking him publicly and giving his personal phone number during a rally.

After his victory in 2016, Graham made a pivot: He began to defend him in public, became his frequent golf partner and one of his most important supporters in the Senate, saying that he had an “obligation” to help a Republican president succeed.

Graham’s relationship with the MAGA world (the hardest Trumpist base) is ambivalent: very close to Trump personally, but never fully accepted by the MAGA core.

He has had specific clashes with Trump and the MAGA world, for example when criticizing the idea of ​​pardoning those convicted of the assault on the Capitol or for showing objections to certain positions of Trump on Ukraine and other issues.