President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he plans to impose increased tariffs on Spain, accusing the country of failing to meet a new 5% defense spending target agreed upon by other NATO allies.
Speaking at the NATO summit, Trump called Spain’s position “terrible,” and said the U.S. would recoup the shortfall through trade penalties. “We’re negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We’re going to make them pay twice as much. And I’m actually serious about that,” he told reporters.
“They want a little bit of a free ride, but they’ll have to pay it back to us on trade,” he added. “I’m not going to let that happen. It’s unfair.”
Trump has long pushed NATO members to contribute more to collective defense, often tying the issue to broader economic negotiations. Spain has not publicly responded to the tariff threat.
