United States President Donald Trump criticized Spain’s refusal to invest 5% of his GDP in defense, as required by NATO, and said he will negotiate a trade agreement “directly” with Madrid and make the country “pay double” to compensate for the situation.
“I will negotiate directly with Spain. I will do this myself. They will pay. So they will pay more,” Trump said at a press conference during the Atlantic Alliance summit in The Hague, the Netherlands.
“Let’s negotiate a trade agreement with Spain. We’ll make them pay double. And I’m serious. We’ll make it,” the Republican president insisted, although Madrid negotiates his trade agreements with Washington collectively as a member of the European Union (EU).
Trump’s comments suggest that his government, which is negotiating a new covenant with Brussels after threatening up to 50% tariffs to correct what it calls “unfair” deficits, now seek to tax -specific European products that can particularly affect Spain.
“(Spain) is a fantastic place and has a great people, but Spain is the only country from all countries that refuses to pay, and you know, they want to pay us back through commerce, because I will not allow it to happen. It is unfair,” he emphasized.
Trump also stated that Spain “has been the most hostile” of NATO members to the idea of increasing defense spending: “I just see no sense.”
“Spain is the only country that won’t pay the total amount. They want to be 2%. I think it’s terrible. And, as you know, they are doing very well. The economy is going very well. And this economy can collapse if something bad happens,” he said.
“These are the only country that does not pay. I don’t know what the problem is,” repeated the Republican leader, who arrived at NATO focused on making the allies commit to the new 5% quota over the next ten years.
Washington considers the current “ridiculous” spending limit and believes all block members are able to assume such an increase.
