Spanish
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, took advantage of his flight to the Netherlands to launch strong criticisms against Spain, which he described as "a problem" within NATO for its refusal to increase military spending to 5% of GDP, a goal agreed upon by most allied countries.
During his intervention on the social network Truth Social, Trump directly targeted Pedro Sánchez's government for its reticent stance and labeled it as "unfair to the rest of the allies", referring to the agreement reached between Spain and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, which relaxes compliance with the percentage as long as the military capabilities objectives are met.
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"Spain has been the country that has most openly rejected increasing its investment in defense," Trump said, visibly uncomfortable with the agreement that allows the Spanish government to allocate only 2.1% of its GDP, instead of the 5% stipulated as the new spending threshold for 2032.This is not the first time Trump has attacked his partners in the Alliance. Back in 2018, during the summit in Brussels, he threatened to leave the organization if investment levels were not doubled. On that occasion, he was also particularly critical of Germany and Spain.
The new context, however, presents a NATO more aligned with the interests of the US president. With the leadership of the Dutchman Mark Rutte as the new Secretary General, the organization has adopted a firmer stance in favor of increasing military spending. Rutte has even publicly praised Trump for achieving what "no other US president has achieved." In his inaugural speech at the conclave, Rutte emphasized the importance of strengthening the Western military industry, assuring that Russia "cannot surpass us in production and weaponry." He also stated that "there is no European security without a strong transatlantic link." However, the formula for reaching 5% has generated debate. The proposal suggests that at least 3.5% of GDP be allocated to direct military spending and the remaining 1.5% to complementary investments in defense. This strategy allowed for a consensus declaration to be agreed upon, which will be signed this Wednesday, although it has been described by some as a "diplomatic trap". Despite the criticism, the Spanish Government announced an injection of 10 billion euros, with which it hopes to reach 2% this year, a figure still below the goal imposed by Trump and supported by Washington as a "historic success".
