President Donald Trump embraced U.S. NATO allies at a summit Wednesday — with one notable exception.
The president lashed out at Spain for its decision to only raise its defense spending to 2.1% of the country’s gross domestic product — well short of the 5% that Trump and NATO have been pushing for.
“You know they are doing very well. The economy is doing very well. And that economy could be blown right out of the water with something bad happening,” Trump said Wednesday at a press conference in the Netherlands, while threatening to double tariffs.
“You’re the only country that is not paying. I don’t know what the problem is,” Trump added. “We’re negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We’re going to make them pay twice as much. And I’m actually serious about that.”
Last week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez requested to withdraw from NATO demands to member countries to increase their spending levels to 5% of their GDP by 2035. Sánchez said current spending levels better met the needs of Spain’s economy.
“In today’s summit, NATO wins and Spain wins something very important for our society, which is security and the welfare state,” Sánchez said after a NATO meeting, Reuters reported. He said Spanish spending levels are “sufficient, realistic and compatible with the welfare state.”
Trump has long demanded that NATO members increase their defense spending, arguing that the U.S. is carrying a majority of the defense burden among Western allies.
“If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them. No, I’m not going to defend them,” Trump told reporters in March.
Now, after sustained pressure from the Trump administration and increasing doubts about the reliability of the U.S. as a defense partner, most NATO members have agreed to the 5% pledge.
Trump told reporters he was pleased to see the policy pivot from European allies, Spain notwithstanding.
“I left here saying these people really love their country. It’s not a rip-off and we’re here to help them protect their country,” he said. “Without the United States, they couldn’t really have NATO; it wouldn’t work. It will in the future, because they’re paying much more money.”
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Samuel Larreal is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.