For the fifth time in less than two weeks, the President of the United States has criticized Spain again and urged our country to reach 5% of Defense spending. "Now [everyone] pays 5%, unlike before when they didn't pay 2%. Except for Spain. I think you should talk to Spain. Spain is not playing as a team. So, apart from Spain, everyone is at one hundred percent, and the Spanish problem could be solved very easily. I think you could," Donald Trump told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte this Wednesday.
Trump mentioned our country out of the blue, without being asked. He did so in the midst of a reflection on the Alliance, of which he declared himself a "very proud member" while emphasizing that "the US maintains an excellent relationship with NATO countries, which I believe improved greatly after our visit a few months ago when they agreed on 5% instead of 2% of GDP. It was a great concession. Two years ago, a year ago, not even nine months ago, they would have said 'that's not possible,'" he stated before commenting on the decision of the Pedro Sánchez government.
There has been no comment from Rutte, who listened in silence from the Oval Office. The Dutchman, who dealt with this issue in July, before, during, and after the Hague Summit, has already made it clear that he does not believe Spain can meet the Alliance's objectives by spending only 2% or 2.2%, as Sánchez's team claims. But he had no choice but to accept some conditional flexibility so that Moncloa would not oppose the Hague declaration. The agreement, in general terms, is that Spain signed the paper, but stating that it will not reach 5%, because it will not be necessary. And there will be a review in the future to assess the results.
"Spain has committed to meeting capacity objectives. They say 'we can do it with a percentage below 3.5%.' I told them they couldn't and soon we will know who is right," Rutte assured reporters outside the White House.
Trump brought up the issue for the first time in the same setting, in the same chairs, alongside Finnish President Alex Stubb, raising the unprecedented possibility of "perhaps having to expel Spain from NATO." Days later, when asked by a Spanish journalist, he revisited the issue but instead talked about tariff sanctions. In Egypt, in front of President Pedro Sánchez, he intervened in a confusing manner, urging the international community, NATO, or someone unspecified to "work on" Sánchez to reach 5%. Last Friday, again in response to another Spanish journalist, he addressed the Spanish case, speaking of a necessary "rebuke" to Spain for being "disloyal."