Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister, has stood out among European leaders as an outspoken critic of the Trump administration and Elon Musk.

However, the Left-winger’s decision to pick a fight with the US leaders of what he calls the “international far-Right” may be less a reflection of political principles and more a desperate bid for survival, as his coalition government risks disintegration.

Under Mr Sánchez’s leadership, Spain is positioning itself in the opposite corner to Donald Trump’s government on issues ranging from Palestine to gender equality quotas – risking trade tariffs, political destabilisation and US interference in Madrid’s international affairs.

Mr Sánchez, who will be in Kyiv later on Monday, is known for being a political gambler, as he showed by surviving a snap election he called two years ago when the polls were stacked against him.

While avoiding naming Mr Trump directly, Mr Sánchez has made a series of speeches in recent days aimed at creating a polarising contrast between his progressive Madrid government and the aggressive new team in Washington DC.

“We defend an international order that works for peace,” Mr Sánchez said before his socialist party parliamentary group last week

“There are those who want to dismantle global trade and international institutions. They want to impose a system based on aggression, on the law of the jungle.”