Trump on defense spending in NATO: 'There's a problem with Spain'

President Donald Trump charged against Spain again this Tuesday. On other occasions the president had already criticized the country's military spending in the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The United States, despite reducing its military budget in the last decade, invests the third-highest proportion of its gross domestic product on defense, at 3.71%. Spain, meanwhile, is the country that spends the least on this aspect, with just 1.28% of its GDP.

Trump since his return to the White House has asked allies to increase their investment in military spending and other related matters, and he mentioned it again on his trip on his way to the NATO summit in The Hague, which takes place this June 24 and 25.

For the Republican, "There's a problem with Spain" regarding its refusal to increase defense spending to the 5% proposed by the alliance. "Spain is not agreeing, which is very unfair to the rest of [NATO members]," he assured reporters aboard Air Force One en route to the Netherlands.

Spain insists that it "will not have to reach 5% in defense spending"

The meeting on these days intends to approve a plan so that the 32 member countries reach 5% by the year 2035, although in the recent hours, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that it will remain at 2.1% in his country.

Sánchez showed a letter supposedly signed by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte assuring that Spain would not have to comply with these requirements proposed by the organization, and the main objective of the summit.

Shortly afterwards, Rutte denied the possibility of "exceptions" in the agreement for member countries, and added, in his opinion, that nations would have to increase their defense spending by at least 3.5% of their GDP.