U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the NATO alliance should consider removing Spain from its membership ranks due to its lagging military spending commitments.
Speaking at a White House meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Thursday night, October 9, Trump reignited an ongoing feud with Madrid.
Members of the 32-nation security alliance agreed in June at The Hague summit to a major U.S.-driven goal to sharply increase their military spending to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035.
However, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was the only leader who refused to commit to the 5% target, calling it “incompatible with our welfare state and our world vision.” Spain has instead committed to allocating 2.1% of its GDP to defense, arguing this is sufficient to meet its capacity targets within the alliance.
During his meeting with President Stubb, Trump criticized Spain as the “one laggard” among NATO members on the new spending goal.
“You have to call them and find why are they a laggard,” Trump said, adding, “Maybe you should throw ’em out of NATO frankly.”
In response on Friday, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles reaffirmed Spain’s commitment to the alliance, stating that the nation is a full member of NATO and delivers on its pledges. She added that the U.S. Armed Forces are “well aware of Spain’s commitment.”
Spain joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1982. The alliance’s defense priorities have been intensely scrutinized since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
