Trump slams Spain’s NATO commitment, questions value as US ally

US President Donald Trump criticised Spain’s commitment to NATO, arguing that the country is not a particularly strong ally of the United States within the alliance.

“Ah, the Spanish, the members of NATO, but not very good members of NATO,” Trump said during a speech in North Dakota. “They say, ‘No, we don't want to help other people. What are we doing?’ They are not behaving nicely. But they will learn soon.”

Earlier on July 1, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker stated that Washington was disappointed with Spain’s actions during the recent US-Israeli conflict with Iran and with Madrid’s unwillingness to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP.

Spanish authorities have maintained that they can meet their NATO commitments while allocating around 2% of GDP to defence. However, the communiqué adopted at the alliance’s June 2025 summit stated that member states had agreed to raise defence-related spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, including 1.5% dedicated to defence infrastructure and expenditures related to military support for Ukraine.

Madrid’s position has drawn sharp criticism from Washington and from Trump personally.

Spain initially opposed the US and Israeli military operation against Iran and also declined to allow Washington to use military bases located on Spanish territory for that purpose.

By Jeyhun Aghazada