Spain remains alone in NATO despite Trump's demand for a 5% military spending cut.

BrusselsThe US insistence has had an effect and Most NATO allies already support —some with more enthusiasm than others—to Donald Trump's imposition of an increase in minimum military spending to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP). The only country that still publicly and openly opposes this is Spain. However, faced with this pressure, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles resignedly declared this Thursday that, albeit reluctantly, the Moncloa "would not veto" the potential agreement between the Atlantic Alliance to increase the percentage of wealth allocated to defense to 5%. "Spain has never been a country to veto," Robles insisted at the meeting of NATO defense ministers this Thursday in Brussels.

The Spanish government remains committed to reaching 2% of GDP for defense, which is NATO's current limit, and which Robles considered "sufficient." At this point, Spain has no plans to increase this rate, as most allies intend to agree at the Atlantic Alliance summit, which begins in San Juan in The Hague. In contrast, the other major European countries that until now had been more reluctant to rearm at forced marches, such as Italy and France, have avoided making public statements against Trump's imposition and do not openly oppose it.

As for Germany, it has already expressed its willingness weeks ago. And, as for smaller countries, the only ones that a few days ago expressed doubts about the 5% were Belgium and Slovakia. Everything else, with greater or lesser enthusiasm, has already capitulated to the Pentagon, which controls de facto NATO, and they almost take it for granted that this new military spending limit will be approved.

However, this 5% is somewhat of a catch, and the allies are considering approving a formula that would allow Trump to sell the fact that he has managed to impose this figure but, at the same time, in practice, European partners would not have to increase military spending as much. In this way, the minimum percentage of GDP that must be allocated to more traditional defense, such as tanks, soldiers, or missiles, will be 3.5%. And the remaining 1.5% will include expenses related to more general security, such as cybersecurity, the fight against terrorism, or border control. In fact, this was one of Spain's requests, which asserts that it spends a lot of resources—more than the NATO average—on this second area.

Diplomatic sources from the NATO alliance assure that this formula was put on the table by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is always balancing the interests of European partners and the US. And, for the first time, the Dutch leader has proposed it publicly and has already received the blessing of a US official. "It's a realistic compromise," defended US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who also assured that the allies already have almost a final agreement on the 5% military spending rate.

Furthermore, several international media outlets indicate that the NATO allies are considering including the military aid they provide to Ukrainian troops as military spending. Although financial and humanitarian support, which European partners provide substantially, would not be included, it would automatically increase the percentage of GDP that European states allocate to defense.

The US maintains the threat of withdrawing troops from Europe.

The United States continues to be ambiguous regarding reports that the Pentagon is considering withdrawing thousands of US troops from European countries, especially in the eastern part of the continent and those bordering Russia. This Thursday, far from clarifying anything or calming the fears of his counterparts, Hegseth simply stated that he finds it "appropriate" to conduct a "review" of the US forces currently deployed throughout Europe. "We must ensure that the size [of these troops] is appropriately measured," the US Secretary of Defense stated.

Faced with these contradictory messages from the Pentagon, Eastern European allies, who for geographical and historical reasons feel more threatened by Vladimir Putin's regime, insisted this Thursday on the need to increase European deterrent capabilities. One of the few to put a figure on the table was German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who estimated that the German army will increase its military strength by 50,000 to 60,000 troops if it reaches the military spending rate that NATO is aiming to agree on.