US President Donald Trump has waded into the escalating dispute over Ceuta, warning that Spain ‘will be a ruined country’ following the mass arrival of migrants from Morocco and accusing Madrid of failing both to control its borders and meet its obligations to NATO.
Trump’s intervention adds another international dimension to a crisis that has already developed far beyond the original migration emergency, amid renewed Moroccan claims over the Spanish North African enclave and an increasingly tense diplomatic confrontation between Madrid and Rabat. ALSO READ: Tens of thousands rally across Spain in support of Ceuta as crisis fuels anger at Sánchez government.
Speaking in an interview with British broadcaster GB News on 3 September, Trump described the scenes in Ceuta at the end of July as ‘very sad to see’ and compared the influx to an invasion. ALSO READ: Trump brands Spain ‘terrible’ and ‘a horror show’ as he again criticises NATO allies.
‘Spain will be a ruined country. I’ve had my own problems with Spain because it doesn’t behave very well with respect to NATO. They don’t pay what they should be paying,’ Trump said. ALSO READ: Trump says he has ordered a cutoff of US trade with ‘terrible ally’ Spain over NATO dispute.
‘What’s happening there is very sad to see,’ he added, before contrasting the situation with migration pressures facing Britain.
The UK, Trump said, had ‘its own problems’ but ‘doesn’t have thousands of people bum-rushing your country like that’.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ he concluded.
Trump also reportedly characterised the mass crossing into Ceuta as ‘worse than an invasion’ and warned that Spain’s inability to control the situation could have repercussions elsewhere in Europe. ALSO READ: Trump vows to ‘cut off all trade’ with Spain over Iran stance: ‘We don’t want anything to do with Spain’.
He suggested that migrants entering Spanish territory could subsequently ‘pour into’ other European countries and eventually reach the United Kingdom.
Significantly, however, the US president did not publicly blame Morocco or its security forces for allowing the crossings to take place, despite the growing political controversy in Spain over Rabat’s possible role in the crisis.
Moroccan minister renews territorial claim
Trump’s comments came as rhetoric from within the Moroccan government intensified once again over the status of Ceuta.
Nizar Baraka, Morocco’s Minister of Equipment and Water and secretary-general of the nationalist Istiqlal Party, described Spain as an ‘essential partner’ but insisted that Morocco ‘will not retreat a single inch of our national territory’.
The remark was widely interpreted as another assertion of Morocco’s longstanding claim to Ceuta and the other Spanish autonomous city in North Africa, Melilla.
Baraka’s position as leader of Istiqlal gives his comments particular significance. The party has deep historical links to the concept of ‘Greater Morocco’, a nationalist doctrine advocating Moroccan sovereignty over territories beyond the borders established when the country gained independence in 1956.
The latest comments therefore place additional pressure on an already strained relationship between Madrid and Rabat, with the migration crisis increasingly intertwined with the much older dispute over Spanish sovereignty in North Africa.
Sánchez: Spanish sovereignty is a ‘red line’
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has sought to draw a firm distinction between cooperation with Morocco and any discussion over the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla.
Sánchez has reiterated that Spanish sovereignty over the two cities represents a red line for his government and has described Moroccan territorial claims as ‘unacceptable’.
At the same time, Madrid has so far stopped short of formally accusing the Moroccan authorities of deliberately engineering the mass influx into Ceuta. ALSO READ: Spanish PM backs Morocco over Ceuta migrant crisis as King Felipe visit is announced.
Sánchez maintains that there is still no ‘solid evidence’ proving that Rabat organised the crossings.
That position has nevertheless come under increasing scrutiny following reports in the Spanish media concerning the behaviour of Moroccan security forces during the crisis. ALSO READ: Spain’s police chief says Ceuta report does not attribute ‘planning or execution’ of migrant crisis to Morocco.
A police report cited by several outlets reportedly described ‘total permissiveness’ by Moroccan officers and alleged that some personnel had even taken actions that helped direct people towards the water and, ultimately, Spanish territory.
The circumstances surrounding the crossings have consequently become one of the most politically sensitive aspects of the crisis, particularly as the Spanish government attempts to preserve cooperation with Morocco while defending the territorial integrity of Ceuta.
Migration crisis becomes diplomatic confrontation
Trump’s intervention now adds Washington to an increasingly complicated diplomatic equation.
His criticism also revived a separate and longstanding disagreement with Madrid over defence expenditure, with the US president linking his dissatisfaction over Spain’s NATO contribution directly to his criticism of the government’s handling of Ceuta.
The result is a crisis operating simultaneously on several fronts.
What began with the arrival of thousands of migrants has developed into a wider confrontation involving border security, the actions of Moroccan authorities, Rabat’s territorial ambitions, Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla, and Madrid’s increasingly difficult relationship with the Trump administration.
With Moroccan politicians continuing to assert their country’s claim to the Spanish enclaves and Trump now publicly attacking Spain over its handling of the crisis, the political consequences of the events in Ceuta are increasingly spreading far beyond the city itself.
Enjoying the news from Spain in English? Add us as a preferred news source in Google.
Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter from Spain in English.
‘What’s happened with Spain is an outrage.’
— GB News (@GBNEWS) September 3, 2026
Donald Trump says migrant invasions in Spain, like that of Ceuta, will be the ‘ruin’ of Europe.@beverleyturner pic.twitter.com/Dj6BnFaEAq
Click here to get your business activity or services listed on our DIRECTORY.