Trump calls Spain a "problem" because of military spending, and Sánchez is holding his breath to avoid a head-on collision.

HagueDonald Trump didn't even wait to land in The Hague to attack Spain. From Air Force One and on his way to the NATO summit, the US president has already called Spain a "problem" due to its reluctance to increase military spending to 5% of its gross domestic product (GDP), as demanded by the White House and The vast majority of Atlantic partners have already accepted"There's a problem with Spain. Spain doesn't agree, which is very unfair to the rest of the people," the New York tycoon told the press. However, Trump already declared victory before the partners sealed the agreement this Wednesday and predicted that the meeting "will be a success" for his administration.

At this point, Pedro Sánchez is the only leader of the Atlantic Alliance who publicly refuses to give in to the White House's impositions. However, sources from the Moncloa emphasize that they want to avoid an "international conflict" with the New York tycoon, who has already humiliated other international leaders in front of cameras. For this reason, the Spanish government has always avoided appealing directly to Washington, although it has been very harsh in its criticism of the pace of rearmament advocated by NATO. In this way, they intend to give the US president as little leverage as possible so that he doesn't attack Sánchez and come away damaged. "We want tomorrow to go well," say the same Spanish government sources.

On the other hand, the US president has also posted on his social media what appears to be a newspaper clipping with the headline 'Spain threatens to derail the NATO summit', and a graph of the percentages that each Atlantic ally allocates to defense. And, of course, Spain is at the bottom, as it is the partner that spends the lowest rate of its GDP on defense.

In fact, the Moncloa maintains that the public discrepancies and contradictions between Sánchez and Rutte are "agreed upon." Under no circumstances, the same sources assure, does Spain want to "torpedo or alter the NATO summit" and the 5% military spending agreement that the allies are expected to seal. However, the Spanish Prime Minister maintains that he can stay at just 2.1%, although Rutte himself and the US have insisted that he must reach 5%, like all partners.

Trump's words came just after Rutte linked the United States' commitment to protecting Europe to European states allocating more money to security. "The Europeans and the Canadians are not spending enough. They want us to match the amount the United States is investing in defense," said the NATO secretary general, who is very close to the White House, in an appearance.

Along the same lines, Rutte has once again put pressure on European allies at the bottom of the military spending list and mentioned up to an eighth of countries that have already committed to reaching 3.5%, such as Estonia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland, which are the ones that Vladimir Putin feels strongly about for historical and geographical reasons. Even the Secretary General of NATO has confirmed that Germany has committed to reaching 3.5% military spending by 2029.

In fact, some countries have openly criticized Sánchez for not wanting to reach 5% military spending and for asking for special treatment from the Atlantic Alliance. Among others, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, also a Social Democrat, called this request "unfair"; Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson opposed "exceptions" within NATO; and Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz stated that "deviating" from the 5% military spending milestone would set a "bad example."

The (verbal) promises to a Zelensky relegated to the background

Trump's return to the White House has completely relegated Volodymyr Zelensky to the background at the NATO summit. The Ukrainian leader did not participate in any general sessions with the other leaders, and the working meeting between the NATO and Ukraine has been reduced to the ministerial level. He only held bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the official meeting and will participate in informal dinners and lunches organized over the next few days in The Hague. At one of the meals Zelensky will attend, tonight's dinner, he will meet with Trump and, among many other leaders, Sánchez.

However, the Secretary General sought to renew NATO's commitment to Ukraine's "irreversible path" to NATO membership. This is a language the allies agreed upon at the military entity's last summit in Washington, under the Joe Biden administration. Now, however, diplomatic sources suggest that he will not agree to include it in the conclusions of this year's summit in The Hague due to pressure from Trump. In any case, Zelensky thanked Rutte for at least verbally committing to linking Ukraine's future to the world's most powerful military entity.