Trump responds to Sánchez on the 5% defense tax: "Spain should pay what everyone else pays."

WashingtonUS President Donald Trump has responded to the His Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sánchez, refused to increase defense spending to 5%., as Washington suggests when it talks about the contribution that allies should make to NATO. "NATO will have to confront Spain. Spain has been one of the countries that has paid the least. It has always been one of the least paid. Trump has criticized Spain, saying that it is "notoriously" known for spending little on defense, and has insisted that it has to pay the same as other Alliance countries. increased the threshold for military spending to 5% of GDP, increasing by three percentage points the 2% target that had been set until now. This year, it announced that it planned to reach the initial 2% of defense spending by the end of 2025.

During the recent visits of the Spanish Ministers of Economy and Foreign Affairs, Carlos Cuerpo and José Manuel Albares, to Washington, their American counterparts insisted that Spain must contribute. Speaking to the US Secretary of Public Affairs after the meeting with Cuerpo, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent "stressed the need to increase Spain's defense spending in the context of NATO."

Robles defends Spain's commitment to NATO

Following Sánchez's refusal to Rutte, expressed in a letter, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles defended Spain's "total and unwavering" commitment to NATO this Friday, despite Sánchez's refusal to increase the security investment required by the NATO to 5%. At an event in Madrid, Robles defended the role of the Spanish armed forces within NATO, with a state behind them that has always been "where it should be."

Spanish King Felipe VI echoed the same sentiment, calling for strengthening alliances within NATO, on which, he said, security in Europe "depends." He also urged increasing Spain's influence within the organization, given the escalating military situation in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.