Saturday, October 11, 2025 - U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the NATO alliance should consider removing Spain from its membership ranks due to its lagging military spending commitments.
Speaking at a White House meeting with Finnish President
Alexander Stubb on Thursday night, October 9, Trump reignited an ongoing feud
with Madrid.
Members of the 32-nation security alliance agreed in June at
The Hague summit to a major U.S.-driven goal to sharply increase their military
spending to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035.
However, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was the only
leader who refused to commit to the 5% target, calling it "incompatible
with our welfare state and our world vision." Spain has instead committed
to allocating 2.1% of its GDP to defense, arguing this is sufficient to meet
its capacity targets within the alliance.
During his meeting with President Stubb, Trump criticized
Spain as the "one laggard" among NATO members on the new spending
goal.
"You have to call them and find why are they a
laggard," Trump said, adding, "Maybe you should throw 'em out of NATO
frankly."
In response on Friday, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita
Robles reaffirmed Spain's commitment to the alliance, stating that the nation
is a full member of NATO and delivers on its pledges. She added that the U.S.
Armed Forces are "well aware of Spain's commitment."
Spain joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1982.
The alliance's defense priorities have been intensely scrutinized since
Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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