US President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that the NATO alliance should consider expelling Spain from its membership ranks over a disagreement over the Western European country's meager military spending.
Members of the US-backed security alliance agreed in June to significantly increase their military spending to 5% of gross domestic product, fulfilling a major priority for Trump, who wants Europeans to spend more on their own defense.
But Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said at the time that he would not commit to the 5% target, calling it "incompatible with our welfare state and our world vision."
In an Oval Office meeting with the leader of NATO's second-youngest member, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Trump said European leaders should persuade Spain to increase its commitments to the alliance, they write. foreign media, the Telegraph reports.
"You people are going to have to start talking to Spain," Trump said. "You have to call them and find out why they're lagging behind."
He added: "They have no excuse not to do this, but that's okay. You should probably kick them out of NATO, honestly."
Spain joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1982.
The 32-member collective defense alliance has been in focus since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and launched the deadliest land war in Europe since World War II.Telegraph/
