Spain’s prime minister opted not to attend the United Nations General Assembly reception that Donald Trump hosted on Tuesday in New York, instead meeting with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Pedro Sánchez, who has sparred with Trump, 80, on the Iran war, NATO, and many other matters, was in Manhattan for the annual U.N. gathering. The 54-year-old called the president’s speech Tuesday “very ideological” and “not backed and supported by facts and data.”
According to several Spanish media reports, the Trump-hosted event that Sánchez did not attend conflicted with a commitment that wasn’t listed on the prime minister’s public schedule. Sánchez also prioritized meetings with the Apple CEO Tim Cook and Australia’s prime minister ahead of Trump.
Sánchez “is not going to attend that dinner, but basically because the invitation arrived a few days ago, when the whole trip was already prepared,” government spokeswoman Elma Saiz said, according to El País.
The Spanish newspaper reports that Sanchez, who faces an election next year, may not want to be photographed with Trump due to his unpopularity back in Spain.
Sanchez also found time to appear on Jon Stewart’s podcast The Weekly Show to talk about Trump: “When he speaks about climate change, or the war in Iran, or the things that are going on in the Middle East, his political positions are not, let’s say, largely supported by many countries worldwide.”
One of the presidential frontrunners, Gavin Newsom, said he discussed clean energy with the PM.
“It was a pleasure to meet again with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro @SanchezCastejon to sign a new MOU strengthening California-Spain collaboration on climate action and clean energy,” Newsom, 58, wrote in a post on X. “By working with our partners, California is advancing clean energy, creating jobs, and cutting pollution.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
