Trump, speaking alongside the Finnish president on Thursday, said Spain was a “laggard” on defense and repeated his demand that allies raise military spending to 5% of economic output, up from the alliance’s earlier 2% goal.
“As you know, I requested that they pay five percent, not two percent,” he said. “We had one laggard. It was Spain.”
“You have to call them and find why are they a laggard, and they’re doing well, too,” he added.
The clash with Madrid dates to late June, when Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Spain would not meet Trump’s 5% target ahead of a NATO summit in The Hague.
On Thursday, Trump escalated his rhetoric.
“Maybe you should throw them out of NATO, frankly,” he said, while arguing that European allies should no longer “piggyback” on U.S. military strength and must “pull [their] weight.”
The Oval Office session was billed as a prelude to a U.S.–Finland icebreaker deal. Trump and Stubb said they had approved the sale of 11 medium icebreakers to Helsinki, a package expected to cost about $6.1 billion (€5.2 billion). Washington aims to deliver the first vessel by 2028.
The agreement comes as Finland seeks to bolster defenses amid continuing concerns over Russian interference following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Finland shares the European Union’s longest land border with Russia.
(jh)
Source: Reuters, Euronews