Trump Urges NATO to Expel Spain Over Refusal to Meet 5% Defense Spending Target

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump has suggested that Spain should be expelled from the NATO alliance for refusing to meet the bloc’s newly adopted 5% defense spending goal, a policy shift he personally championed during the June NATO summit in The Hague.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday alongside Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Trump claimed credit for pushing NATO members toward the higher spending threshold, saying the commitment had been reached “virtually unanimously.”

“We had one laggard. It was Spain,” Trump said. “They have no excuse not to do this. Maybe you should throw them out of NATO, frankly.”

The remarks come as part of Trump’s long-running campaign to pressure European allies to shoulder what he calls a “fair share” of the defense burden. During his first term, he frequently accused NATO states of underinvesting in their own security, and since returning to office in January, he has renewed those demands with greater intensity.

At the June NATO summit, Trump secured agreement among member states to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, up from the long-standing 2% target. He hailed the meeting as “the most unified and productive in history”.

However, the ambitious goal has drawn criticism across Europe. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said his country could meet NATO obligations “without a major spending increase,” citing domestic priorities.

Spain has been the most outspoken opponent of the new target. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez reportedly negotiated a temporary exemption ahead of the summit, proposing instead a 2.1% spending goal. Currently, Spain spends roughly 1.3% of its GDP on defense—the lowest among NATO members.

Following the summit, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles called the 5% requirement “absolutely impossible,” pointing to shortages in skilled labor and raw materials that would prevent Europe’s defense industry from scaling up production even with more funding.

“No industry can take it on,” Robles said, underscoring the limits of Europe’s current defense infrastructure.

Trump’s latest comments are expected to widen tensions between Washington and Madrid, as well as raise concerns within NATO over the feasibility of the 5% benchmark and the potential for punitive measures against members deemed noncompliant.