Trump: Spain will ‘pay’ on the trade front for refusing to spend 5% of its GDP on defense
From the NATO summit, the president warned the government of Pedro Sánchez for not meeting the alliance's overall goal.
Trump with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in 2018. File image
(With information from AFP) President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to target Spain on the trade front for its refusal to spend 5% of its national GDP on defense, the global goal set by NATO at its summit in The Hague.
"I think it’s too bad. So we’ll make it up. … We are negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We are going to make them pay twice as much. … They want a little bit of a free ride, but they’ll have to pay it back to us on trade," Trump declared in response to a journalist's question.
These words were echoed by Marco Rubio. In an interview with POLITICO, the Secretary of State welcomed the decision of NATO member countries to “commit to achieving that goal, with the unfortunate exception of Spain”.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez offered no reason to argue for his decision not to join the policy sealed by NATO and simply said that his country "will continue to be a key part of the European security architecture."
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