US President Donald Trump has again criticized Spain for not raising its defense spending to the 5% of GDP agreed by NATO. During a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodímir Zelenski, Trump stated that Spain is disloyal and should be reprimanded. This marks the third time the leader has raised the issue in a week.
Donald Trump has reiterated his dissatisfaction with Spain's defense spending level, which reaches 2% of GDP, equivalent to about 30 billion euros. The government of Pedro Sánchez maintains that it meets the military capability objectives assigned by NATO. However, Trump insists that Spain must adhere to the NATO agreement from last summer, which raises the threshold to 5% of GDP, implying an additional 40 billion for Spain.
In a press conference with Zelenski, Trump stated: “Spain should be reprimanded, but that depends on NATO and Spain.” He added: “It is not being loyal. It is the only one. The rest [of countries] have raised from 2% to 5%, but Spain disagreed with that. It is very bad that they did it. I think Spain must be reprimanded, but that depends on them, on NATO and Spain.”
This is Trump's third mention of the issue. Three days ago, he threatened tariffs: “It is possible that I do it [impose tariffs]... Spain is the only one [that does not pay], it has to be punished for that,” he said alongside Argentine President Javier Milei. The Spanish government responded that the US cannot unilaterally impose tariffs on Spain as an EU member. Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo recalled: “Spain is part of a customs union within the EU and, therefore, it is the European Commission that negotiates trade agreements.”
The European Commission backed Spain: “We will respond appropriately, as we always do, to any measure taken against one or more of our Member States.” A week ago, Trump suggested expelling Spain from NATO during a meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb: “During the NATO summit we had a straggler. It was Spain... Maybe you should expel them from NATO.”