President Donald Trump has opened a new front in his campaign to pressure NATO allies, threatening to impose punitive tariffs on Spain for refusing to meet his administration’s new 5% defense spending target — a figure that more than doubles NATO’s long-standing benchmark.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump accused Madrid of “disrespecting” NATO and undermining collective defense.
“They’re the only country that didn’t raise their number up to 5%… so I’m not happy with Spain,” he said. “I was thinking of giving them trade punishment through tariffs because of what they did, and I think I may do that.”
The remarks mark a sharp escalation in Washington’s pressure campaign on European allies, blending military burden-sharing disputes with economic coercion — a tactic that risks fracturing NATO unity as tensions with Russia intensify.
Spain, a member of the alliance since 1982, rejected the push to quintuple defense spending during last month’s NATO summit, calling Trump’s proposal “unrealistic and politically destabilizing.”
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez defended his decision, saying Spain’s contributions to NATO missions in Latvia, Romania, and the Mediterranean demonstrate its commitment to alliance security despite modest defense budgets.
Madrid’s position — spending just 2.1% of GDP on defense — is in line with NATO’s 2023 goal but falls far short of Trump’s redefined threshold.
Analysts say the rift exposes a deeper divide within the alliance: between those prioritizing economic recovery and those aligning with Trump’s “pay-to-play” security doctrine.
Trump’s threat to “throw Spain out of NATO” last week stunned European diplomats.
No mechanism exists within the North Atlantic Treaty to expel members, but the mere suggestion signals Washington’s willingness to leverage trade and defense ties as tools of punishment.
If implemented, U.S. tariffs could hit Spain’s automobile, wine, and energy exports, potentially sparking retaliatory measures from Brussels and testing the limits of transatlantic economic interdependence.
Defense analysts warn that Trump’s approach could embolden adversaries. “By publicly isolating a NATO ally, the U.S. risks sending a signal of division that Moscow and Beijing will exploit,” said one European security official.
Behind the rhetoric lies a strategic gamble. Trump’s calculation — that economic pain can enforce military compliance — could either cement American dominance within NATO or splinter the alliance at its most vulnerable moment since the Cold War.
For now, Spain appears unwilling to bend. “Our commitment to NATO is political, operational, and moral,” a government statement said Tuesday. “Not every contribution is measured in percentages.”
