Trump issues tariff threat after Spain rejects Nato defence target

Times

6 hours ago

President Trump has threatened to punish Spain by doubling trade tariffs after its prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, refused to meet a new Nato defence spending target of 5 per cent of GDP.
Trump warned that Spain would 'pay more money' than if it had agreed to reach the target after Sánchez said that his country would pay only 2.1 per cent. Sánchez has signed up to Nato's commitment to 5 per cent over ten years but at the same time has stated that Spain will spend considerably less.
The US president said he would make Spain pay higher trade tariffs for trying to take a 'free ride' with Nato. 'It is terrible what they've done,' he said of Spain. 'They are the only country that won't pay the full [amount]. They want to stay at 2 per cent. Their economy is doing well and that economy could be blown right out of the water if something bad happened.'
Speaking at the Hague, he added: 'I don't know what the problem is. It's too bad. So we will make it up. We are negotiating with Spain on a trade deal and we are going to make them pay twice as much. I am actually serious about that.'
Trump complimented Spain on being 'great place and a great people' but said: 'They will have to pay it back to us on trade because I'm not going to let that happen. It's unfair.'
Asked whether he would negotiate himself, he replied with relish: 'I am going to negotiate directly with Spain and I am going to do it myself. They are going to pay. They will pay more money this way.'
He told the Spanish reporter who asked the question: 'You should go back and tell them to pay. They ought to join all those countries that are paying 5 per cent … They were the most hostile to doing that.'
• Pedro Sánchez's row with Trump could offer respite from scandal
Shortly before Trump's remarks, Sánchez said: 'We have saved Spain's interests.' He said that the 2.1 per cent of GDP pledged for security and defence was 'a sufficient, realistic investment compatible with our social model and our welfare state'. He added: 'Spain is a sovereign and caring country.'
On the eve of the summit Sánchez announced that he had struck a deal with Nato not to reach the 5 per cent target. But Mark Rutte, Nato's secretary-general, denied he had agreed to exempt Spain. 'Nato has no opt-out and Nato doesn't know side deals,' he said.
Sánchez is fighting for his political survival as corruption allegations threaten to topple his minority government. To survive the kickbacks scandal at the heart of his inner circle, Sánchez needs to minimise defence spending to maintain the support of his allies, particularly his main coalition partner, the populist-left alliance Sumar.
Pablo Simón, a professor of politics at Carlos III University in Madrid, said: 'The main variable Sánchez uses has to do with his knowledge that opposing defence spending and confronting Trump can be popular in domestic politics.'