The US contradicts Sánchez and insists that "all allies" must achieve 5% of military spending.

HagueThe United States maintains its demand that all NATO allies achieve a 5% target of gross domestic product (GDP) in military spending. Despite Pedro Sánchez's announcement This Sunday, he had agreed with the Atlantic Alliance that Spain could stay at 2.1%., the US ambassador to NATO, Matthew G. Whitaker, assured the press this Monday that "all allies" will have to commit to reaching 5%. "Thanks to Trump's bold leadership, NATO is on the path to achieving a historic commitment: that all allies commit to spending at least 5% of GDP on defense," the US representative stressed.

In this way, the Donald Trump administration contradicts sources from the Moncloa who assure that the final conclusions of this week's NATO summit in The Hague will not make explicit reference to the fact that "all allies" will have to comply with the spending targets, but only the "allies." This morning, according to the same Spanish government sources, the level of commitment that Spain should assume would be lowered.

NATO sources assure that the allies have already reached an agreement to reach a minimum of 5% of military spending this Sunday, but the fine print has yet to be finalized, and therefore, it is unclear what the final compromise language will be. The countries most reluctant to rearm to the levels demanded by Donald Trump, such as Spain and Belgium, are pushing for the withdrawal of the reference to "all allies," but the US insists that the obligation to reach 5% remains immutable and without exceptions. "We are urging all our allies to step forward and pay their fair share for transatlantic security," the US ambassador insisted.

So, although both sides contradict each other, for now they are avoiding a direct political clash and selling the part of the pact that suits them best. Sánchez is interested in telling Madrid—especially his governing partners—that 2.1% is enough, and Trump is interested in returning to Washington with the promise of 5%. In any case, in practice, it is a rate that is hard to imagine the allies being able to reach, since right now no partner reaches it and the average military spending of the European Union states that are in NATO is around 2%.

A small print to please Trump

Despite Sánchez's opposition, the NATO summit was generally designed to avoid angering Trump. The most evident aspect of this is that the vast majority of allies have bowed to the Pentagon's demands and have already agreed to increase military spending to at least 5% of GDP. The US has consistently insisted that this figure must be agreed upon, and it is expected that the European allies, despite initial reluctance, will eventually appease Trump. However, with a little cheating In the fine print: 3.5% must be defense spending as currently estimated (the traditional: tanks, missiles, or soldiers), and the remaining 1.5% can be accounted for broader security concepts, such as the fight against terrorism, cyberattacks, or certain infrastructure.

In this sense, several NATO diplomatic sources suggest that the European allies intended to arrive at The Hague summit with all agreements almost sealed. The objective is to prevent Trump from changing his mind at the last minute and making even more ambitious requests. And, for this reason, in recent days some of the allies most opposed to increasing military spending, such as Belgium and Italy, have been making public statements that, albeit reluctantly, they are willing to swallow the 5%.

The only one who remains openly opposed, however, is Sánchez. It remains to be seen whether Trump continues to avoid a head-on clash with the Spanish government and remains content with the agreement, or whether he ultimately decides to directly attack the Moncloa government at this week's summit, increasing his demands.

Zelensky is no longer the guest of honor

Recent NATO summits have focused primarily on supporting Ukraine, with Volodymyr Zelensky becoming the guest of honor. However, with Trump's return, no one is talking about what the NATO's commitment to Ukraine should be, and Zelensky has been relegated to the background at this summit: he will only be able to attend the informal Midsummer Day dinner the leaders will hold after the formal meeting.

On the contrary, and largely due to pressure from the White House, the Atlantic partners plan to maintain the language warning about China in the summit conclusions, which they increasingly describe as a "challenge" to the security of NATO member countries.