Trump threatens Spain with tariffs again for not meeting the 5% defense spending target
"I'm very disappointed with Spain. It's the only country in NATO that didn't increase defense spending to 5% of GDP," the Republican said.
WashingtonUS President Donald Trump has once again attacked Spain for not wanting to spend 5% of its GDP on defense after to suggest that it should be expelled from NATO for being the only ally that hasn't made that commitment. "I was thinking of punishing them commercially for what they've done, and I may do it," the Republican said this Tuesday during the bilateral meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei. "I'm very disappointed with Spain. It's the only country that didn't increase defense spending in NATO to 5% of GDP," the president said in response to one of the journalists in the room, and insisted: "I think they should be punished for it."
The Republican's words come just as Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo will be in Washington this Wednesday to attend events held in conjunction with the fall meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
"Spain gets protection, and they know it. Look, they're sort of in the middle, so they'll automatically get protection. Even if we don't want to protect them, we're doing it anyway because of their location. And I think what Spain has done is very bad for NATO. I think it's very exposed." the day after shaking hands with Spanish President Pedro Sánchez at the Gaza ceasefire summit. The scene was one of the images of the day: a smiling Sánchez endured the characteristic snooze that Trump always makes when shaking hands with other leaders to demonstrate authority. It was yet another gesture of defiance toward Washington that echoed the socialist leader's loneliness during the family photo at the last NATO summit.
During the NATO meeting, Sánchez was the only leader who refused to comply with the new 5% of GDP target for defense spending imposed by Donald Trump. The leader of the PSOE signed the agreement, but said that Spain would only allocate money to this concept.2.1% of its GDP, which provoked Trump's anger, which threatened to apply trade retaliation.
The fine print of the signed pact dictated that of the 5% to which the allies committed, 3.5% must be allocated to conventional weapons, such as tanks, missiles, soldiers, or ammunition, while the remaining 1.5% should be allocated to security, where the fight against infrastructure. Sánchez left the summit explaining that Spain had only committed to reaching 2.1% of GDP, considering that with that percentage it could already achieve the Atlantic Alliance's military capability objectives. In fact, he assured that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had granted him special "flexibility" and that there was no need to reach 3.5%.
