Trump says Spain would be 'punished' with tariffs over NATO spending

[Flag of Spain waving on pole on the 3d topographic map surface and abstract background with a grid]

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened trade penalties, including tariffs, against Spain due to its refusal to increase its NATO defense spending to 5% of GDP.

"I'm very unhappy with Spain. They're the only country that didn't raise their number up to 5%... so I'm not happy with Spain," Trump told reporters at the White House.

"I think it's very disrespectful to NATO. In fact, I was thinking about giving them trade punishment through tariffs because of what they did, and I may do that," Trump added.

A few days back, Trump slammed Spain, suggesting that the European nation should be expelled from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) over Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's refusal to accept the minimum target of spending 5% of GDP on defense.

Spain defended its stance, citing economic limitations and emphasizing its contributions to NATO through troop deployments and capacity rather than just spending levels.

For background, the NATO-wide defense spending goal was raised to 5% of GDP, reflecting concerns about Russian threats following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. At that time, Sánchez negotiated an exemption to maintain Spain's spending at about 2.1% of GDP, which he described as sufficient and realistic.

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