Donald Trump‘s return to the White House could spell disaster for the already fragile agreement between the UK and Spain on Gibraltar.

The Republican began his second term in office yesterday, starting by signing over 200 executive orders from immigration to social media app TikTok.

A bombshell new report has warned that the new president could “reduce the margins of [Spain’s] foreign policy” and “harm the completion of the agreement with the United Kingdom on Gibraltar“.

It adds: “Pressure from the US makes it difficult and reduces the margins of foreign policy, which harms the management of delicate relations with Morocco and the completion of the agreement with the United Kingdom on Gibraltar.

It claimed Mr Trump will oppose Spain’s defence spending, recogition of a Palestinian state, and soft approach to Cuba and Venezuela.

Spain currently spends the lowest on defence out of all NATO countries, and the president has repeatedly voiced his belief that allies not paying enough will not get any help from the US should a conflict arise.

The report warned of the jeopardy Mr Trump could put the Gibraltar agreement in, which involves increased cooperation between the UK and Spain following Brexit, in which the Rock overwhelming voted to remain in the EU.

The December 2020 framework agreement removed barriers to the movement of goods and people at the Gibraltar-Spain border and suggested a customs union between the Rock and the EU to make it part of the Schengen area.

A more positive outcome for the agreement, the report said, would involve “customs [opening] in Ceuta and Melilla and Gibraltar is incorporated into the Schengen area.”.

This would allow Spain to “present itself to the world as a middle power consistent with international law and facilitator of geopolitical bridges with the ‘global south'”.

The report added that Mr Trump’s return could hinder Spain’s standing in the European Union due to a “weak” government, as there has been “strong conflict” between the People’s Party (PP) Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE).

It said: “The lack of unity among the Twenty-Seven [EU member states] (where Eurosceptic forces continue to rise) and the fact that the [Spanish] government is weak and located to the left of the new trend in Europe corners Spain’s positions in Brussels.

“The parliamentary instability of the government, the lack of a new budget, and the strong conflict between the PP and the PSOE prevent a coherent position from being established in the face of all these challenges, affecting Spain’s influence and international prestige.”