United States President Donald Trump has threatened tough trade deals with Spain and said the U.S. may send Ukraine more air-defence missiles to defend itself from Russia at the NATO summit in the Netherlands.
Trump’s threat towards Spain came after the southern European country’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, refused to meet the NATO defence spending target of 5% gross domestic product in a letter to NATO chief Mark Rutte.
"Committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive, as it would move Spain further away from optimal spending and would hinder the EU's ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defence ecosystem," Sanchez wrote in the letter.
"It is the legitimate right of every government to decide whether or not they are willing to make those sacrifices. As a sovereign Ally, we choose not to.”
Trump said it was terrible that Spain wouldn’t commit to meeting the target by 2035, despite their strong economy.
“We’re negotiating with Spain on a trade deal and we’re going to make them pay twice as much — and I’m actually serious about that. I like Spain … it’s a great place and they are great people, but Spain is the only country out of all of the countries that refuses to pay,” Trump said.
This comes after NATO allies agreed to more than double defence spending from 2% of GDP to 5% of GDP by 2035.
The Slovak Republic followed in Spain’s footsteps.
Also at the NATO Summit, Trump met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said he would try to send Ukraine more air-defence missiles that Kyiv relies on.
Trump also said he would speak to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to get peace talks back on track. However, he noted that Putin may have territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine.
Zelenskyy took to X to say that he and Trump had a “long and substantive conversation” and thanked the U.S. President for his cooperation.
“We appreciate the attention and the readiness to help bring peace closer,” he said.
Zelenskyy added that he and Trump also discussed drone production.
"We discussed the protection of our people with the President — first and foremost, the purchase of American air defence systems to shield our cities, our people, churches, and infrastructure," he said.
Zelenskyy also said increased spending to 5% of GDP was necessary and would be a strong deterrent against Russia.
"A united Europe can create a defence capability that will destroy Russia’s illusion that war with Europe could bring it anything," he said.
