Trump: Spain should 'remain united'

President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that Spain should “remain united.”

Spanish authorities are trying to block secessionists in Catalonia from following through with an independence referendum set for Oct. 1. Authorities have reportedly seized millions of ballot papers and fined top Catalan officials.


“Well, I think that Spain is a great country, and it should remain united. We’re dealing with a great, great country, and it should remain united,” Trump told reporters Tuesday afternoon during a joint news conference alongside Spanish leader Mariano Rajoy.

“I’ve been watching that unfold, but it’s actually been unfolding for centuries,” the president added. “Nobody knows if they’re gonna have a vote. I think the president would say they’re not going to have a vote, but I think that the people would be very much opposed to that. I can say, only speaking for myself, I would like to see Spain continue to be united.”

Rajoy, speaking through a translator, said “the decision to unilaterally declare independence” is not one he would make but one that would have to be determined by the Catalan government.

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“I think it would be very wrong, and I think that right now when everyone knows that the referendum can’t take place because there isn’t an electoral committee, there isn’t a team at the Catalan government organizing the referendum, there aren’t ballots, there aren’t people at the voting stations,” he said. “It’s just crazy. All this will lead to is noise, but certainly there can’t be a valid democratic referendum with minimum guarantees.”

Rajoy advised that the most logical solution is that people revert to “common sense and put an end to this whole story.”

“The only thing it’s doing is generating division, tensions, and it’s not contributing in any way to the citizens’ situation,” Rajoy said. “So I want this to be resolved as soon as possible, and I want us to go into a new stage where the rule of law, dialogue and common sense will prevail.”