Trump Suggests Dropping Spain From NATO Alliance Over Defense Spending

Authored by Victoria Friedman via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump suggested on Oct. 9 that Spain could be thrown out of NATO after Madrid declined to commit to boosting defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Trump made the remarks during an Oval Office meeting with the leader of the defense alliance’s second-newest member, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, where the world leaders discussed NATO’s almost-universal pledge to increase defense expenditure.

The U.S. president said to his Finnish counterpart: “Well, we had to do it, and you were great about it. Spain has not been. Spain is the one that didn’t do it. And so, I think you people are going to have to start speaking to Spain. The only one that didn’t do it, the only NATO country that didn’t do it is Spain, and you’ll figure what that’s all about, right?”

Trump said later during the exchange: “We had one laggard. It was Spain, Spain. You have to call them and find out why are they a laggard, and they’re doing well, too.

“They have no excuse not to do this, but that’s all right. Maybe you should throw them out of NATO, frankly.”

Responding, Spain reaffirmed its commitment to the alliance, with the country’s defense minister, Margarita Robles, saying that Spain delivers on its pledges.

“These statements were made in a specific context, but I know for a fact that the U.S. Armed Forces are well aware of Spain’s commitment,” Robles said.

The defense minister in July had spoken of Spain’s reliability in the alliance during a visit to NATO headquarters in Naples, Italy, where she said that “NATO can count on Spain.”

According to a Spanish government statement from July 18, Robles said that “there are no debates or speeches that can overshadow Spain’s commitment and reliability in terms of NATO, because our commitment is robust.”

5 Percent of GDP

On June 25, Trump joined the leaders of the 31 other NATO member countries at a summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, where the alliance endorsed a new defense spending target of 5 percent of GDP—more than double the 2 percent benchmark set during a summit in Wales in 2014.

The president had been pushing for an increase in spending to redress an imbalance between what the United States and its non-U.S. allies spend.

A document called Funding NATO on the alliance’s website points to this imbalance, stating:

“The combined wealth of the non-US Allies, measured in GDP, is almost equal to that of the United States.

“However, non-U.S. Allies together spend less than half of what the United States spends on defence.

“This imbalance has been a constant, with variations, throughout the history of the alliance and has grown more pronounced since the tragic events of 11 Sept. 2001, after which the United States significantly increased its defence spending.”

During his first term, Trump frequently brought up this disparity, and the subject reemerged during the 2024 presidential election.

In October 2024, Trump’s then-running mate and now vice president, JD Vance, said: “Donald Trump wants NATO to be strong. He wants us to remain in NATO. But he also wants NATO countries to actually carry their share of the defense burden.”

Spain’s Exemption

In the run-up to the June 25 summit, several countries had already backed Trump’s call to increase their pledges, including Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia.

However, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his country had made a deal with NATO to exclude itself from the increased target.

“Spain will, therefore, not spend 5 percent of its GDP on defense, but its participation, weight, and legitimacy in NATO remain intact,” Sánchez said in a televised address on June 22.

“We fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defense investment, but we are not going to do it.”

He added that Spain could meet all of its commitments to NATO, in terms of staff or equipment, by spending only 2.1 percent of its GDP.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a press conference after the plenary session at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25, 2025. Markus Schreiber/AP

According to NATO’s latest estimates from June, Spain is one of the lowest spenders on defense, just hitting 2 percent of GDP.

Poland is the highest spender out of the alliance, at 4.48 percent, followed by Lithuania (4 percent), Latvia (3.73 percent), Estonia (3.38 percent), Norway (3.35 percent), the United States (3.22 percent), and Denmark (also 3.22 percent).

At a pre-summit press conference on June 23, a journalist asked NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte how, given the exemption for Spain, he was going to make sure the 5 percent pledge did not become an empty promise.

Rutte replied, “Alluding to Spain, NATO has no opt-out, and NATO doesn’t do side deals.”

He said countries within the alliance “have the sovereign right, and also the flexibility, to determine their paths for delivering on the NATO commitments.”