At the NATO summit in The Hague, President Donald Trump revelled in allies’ decision to quintuple the alliance’s defence spending benchmark—from 2% to 5% of GDP by 2035. Yet, he reserved his harshest words for the one hold-out, Spain.
“It’s terrible what Spain has done,” he told reporters. “We’re negotiating a trade deal and I will make them pay twice as much. I’m serious about that.”
The president’s broadside followed a unanimous vote by the 31 other NATO members to embrace the historic 5% goal, a move Secretary General Mark Rutte hailed as “a monumental win for the United States.”
Trump basked in the praise—Rutte jokingly called him “daddy” earlier in the day—arguing the shift vindicated his years-long campaign against “free-riding” allies. “They said, ‘You did it, sir,’” Trump recounted. “Well, I don’t know if I did it, but I think I did.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government—already spending roughly 1.3% of GDP on defence—insists any jump beyond the previously agreed 2% target would gut social programme funding. To meet the new threshold, Spain would need to find roughly €45 billion a year—triple its current military budget and on par with its entire education spend.
Madrid has instead floated a side-deal that would cap its outlays just above 2%, drawing a firm “no” from Washington.
Trump’s threat is legally awkward—trade policy toward the US is handled by the European Commission, not individual capitals—but politically potent. By singling out Spain, he revives the tariff tactics he wielded in 2018’s steel-and-aluminium dispute, signalling to Brussels that defence burden-sharing and market access are now linked in the White House playbook.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned the gambit could backfire: “We cannot, among allies, say that we must spend more and wage a trade war.” EU officials privately fear that a new trans-Atlantic tariff spiral would jeopardise ongoing talks to modernise the EU-US Trade and Technology Council—just as Europe scrambles to re-arm against Russia.
The Spain flap stood in stark contrast to an otherwise triumphant Trump performance. He lauded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “brave battle,” chastised Vladimir Putin to “end that war,” and insisted last week’s US bunker-buster strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites were “total obliteration.” Even habitual critics conceded the summit exuded unity and Trump himself, after years of criticizing the international alliance, said he now views NATO as anything but a “rip-off.”
Information for this briefing was found via Politico, The Hill, and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
