Trump: I'll make Spain pay for Nato spending snub

Telegraph

3 days ago

Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would make Spain 'pay twice as much' after it refused to honour a Nato agreement to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP.
The US president singled out Spain for declining to meet the target and said he would seek to punish the Mediterranean country in trade negotiations unless it changed course.
His threat came after Nato's 32 member states agreed to 'submit annual plans showing a credible, incremental path' to the 5 per cent goal at the alliance's annual summit in The Hague.
Mr Trump and others hailed his personal role in the decision after he threatened to withdraw American security guarantees from Europe.
Mark Rutte, Nato's secretary general, had earlier called the US president 'daddy' as he sought to flatter the American for brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
The traditional post-summit communique, signed off by Nato's leaders, set out the need for increased military expenditure because of the 'long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security'.
Unlike previous years, the statement made no condemnation of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The omission, first reported by The Telegraph, was seen as a concession by Kyiv's supporters to convince Mr Trump to sign off on a statement confirming his 'ironclad commitment to collective defence as enshrined in article 5'.
Ahead of the summit, the US president had cast doubt over his support for the mutual defence clause, suggesting it was open to interpretation.
But European allies breathed a sigh of relief when Mr Trump declared that their promise to ramp up spending had changed his mind.
Mr Trump said: 'I watched the heads of these countries get up, and the love and the passion that they showed for their country was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it.
'It was great. And I left here differently. I left here saying that these people really love their countries. It's not a rip-off, and we're here to help them protect their country.'
But he said it was 'terrible' that Spain had refused to join the others in increasing their defence spending.
Spain had claimed it had agreed an opt-out from the 5 per cent target and said it would meet the alliance's capability targets without increasing its military expenditure.
Mr Trump added: 'We are negotiating with Spain on a trade deal and we will make them pay twice as much. I'm actually serious about that.
'I like Spain. It's a great place, and they're great people, but Spain is the only country, out of all of the countries, that refuses to pay. They want a free ride but I am not going to let that happen.'
While the European Union handles trade negotiations on behalf of its members, Mr Trump could still move to levy new tariffs against Spanish exports.
Officials later said Mr Trump's Spanish rant had been a minor hiccup in what was a successful summit in the Dutch city.
Their perceived strategy to flatter Mr Trump, lavishing him in praise and a night's stay at the Huis ten Bosch royal palace had succeeded in keeping the American president from turning the event into a row over defence spending.
Mr Rutte was key in that flattery, at one point hailing 'daddy' Mr Trump's decision to strike Iran's nuclear sites.
'Daddy sometimes has to use strong language,' the Nato official said as he interjected in Mr Trump's comparison of the Israel-Iran conflict as a playground brawl.
Mr Rutte later claimed no other US president had succeeded in convincing Nato's European allies to increase their defence spending like Mr Trump.
Asked about his description of Mr Trump as 'daddy', he replied: 'It is a question of taste.
'When it comes to making more investments, would that have been the result of this summit if he would have not been re-elected president?'
Sources told The Telegraph all of Nato's 32 leaders took the opportunity to speak during a single summit session dedicated to the new spending goal, with many of them praising Mr Trump for his role in their decision.
Pedro Sanchez, Spain's prime minister, even avoided any mention that he had no intention of the percentage target on the table.
Despite the omission of any blame for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Mr Trump described as a 'crisis', the US president heaped praise on a 'brave' Volodymyr Zelensky, after the leaders met on the sidelines of the summit.
The American described his Ukrainian counterpart as a 'nice guy', insisting he was fighting a 'tough battle'.
Mr Trump said he would further hold talks with Putin about ending the war, saying: 'Look, Vladimir Putin really has to end that war.'
He added: 'It's more difficult than people would have any idea. Vladimir Putin has been more difficult.'
Mr Trump also hinted at the possibility of selling Ukraine more Patriot surface-to-air missile defences after months of Ukrainian requests for more systems to protect its cities from Russian barrages.