Trump administration hits out at Spain's Sánchez over Ceuta migrant 'invasion'
U.S. President Donald Trump and senior officials have sharply criticized Spain's government after roughly 50,000 people crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, describing the situation as an invasion. Washington blames Madrid's socialist administration for facilitating mass illegal migration and says it is weighing possible responses.
At a cabinet meeting on Friday, Trump said he watched the catastrophe in Ceuta and it looked like an invasion of a country. He warned that the same could happen in the United States if Republicans do not win the election, but on a much larger scale.
The State Department issued a categorical statement pinning responsibility on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government, saying the incident was the direct result of deliberate efforts to enable and facilitate mass illegal migration into Europe. The department said it is considering actions to protect Americans at home and abroad and stands ready to help European allies considering similar measures.
Sánchez is unlikely to be surprised by the harsh American reaction. He has been among Trump's most outspoken critics in the EU, denouncing U.S. military operations in the Middle East and banning U.S. military planes from using Spanish air bases.
Vice President JD Vance wrote on social media that he was thankful Trump was elected and that the U.S. border no longer looks like the scenes from Spain, which he called an unfortunate reminder of the consequences of mass migration and radical left-wing globalist policies. The Department of Homeland Security echoed that view, suggesting that if Spain had its own Trump, this would not be an issue.
The criticism came as Ceuta's migrant crisis quickly escalated into a Europe-wide political flashpoint. On Friday, France restored border checks, and Italy called for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen area, exposing deep divisions over the bloc's migration policy.
Elon Musk, described in the source as the world's first trillionaire and a former Trump adviser, initially shared a video comparing the Ceuta scenes with footage from the 2013 zombie film "World War Z," posting that the situation in Spain looked crazy. He later clarified it was a joke and shared 2023 footage of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants attempting to cross into the U.S., captioning it as what America looked like under Biden.
