US President Donald Trump was criticized again last week for his aggressive stance toward a NATO member state. At a meeting with his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb on October 9, he said the alliance should “kick out” Spain, which he described as “sluggish.”
At the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, in June, European representatives vied to please Trump with their demand for an increase in military spending to five percent of GDP. Madrid was the only member to reject this commitment, prompting Trump to make dissatisfied remarks about Spain.
“They are also in a good position, thanks to many things we have done. They are doing well. They have no excuse for doing this [falling short of the set benchmark, editor's note], but that doesn't matter. Maybe they should be kicked out of NATO, to be honest,” said the White House chief.
Stubb, who was hosting the meeting, agreed with him amusedly. He was probably pleased that Trump had just compared Spain to Finland – which he took as a compliment.
The Republican doubled down on Tuesday when he called on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to increase spending or face “punitive tariffs.” He described spending of 2.1 percent of GDP as “incredibly disrespectful.”
The pro-Brussels weekly Politico pointed out in this context that exclusion from NATO “is technically impossible, as there is no mechanism for excluding a country from the transatlantic military alliance.”
Pressure outside the treaties
The North Atlantic Treaty—after which NATO as a whole is named—does not in fact contain any article dealing with the expulsion of a member. Trump would therefore have no choice but to put pressure on the government in Madrid to seek withdrawal itself.
The most likely method would be to apply a different interpretation of the most frequently cited Article 5, namely that member states agree on the need for collective defense in such a way that “each of them, in exercising the right of individual or collective self-defense [...] shall immediately assist the party or parties attacked with such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force.”
Contrary to the usual interpretation, this article says nothing about the obligation of member states to send their troops. Trump could be inclined to do just that in the case of Spain – in a hypothetical war, he would send Madrid money instead of weapons or deliver a diplomatic note.
He made similar comments to European allies back in March. “If they don't pay, I won't defend them,” Trump was quoted as saying by the global media.
During the election campaign in February 2024, he even declared that he would ‘encourage’ Russia to attack European countries that “don't pay” the required defense spending. “They haven't paid? They're unwilling to pay? No, I wouldn't protect them. I would even encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. They have to pay. They have to pay their bills,” he said.
France unilaterally withdrew from the military part of NATO in the mid-1960s and remained only a member of the political community headed by the North Atlantic Council and the Secretary General. Then-President Charles de Gaulle argued in 1965 that the “integration” promised by the US was in fact subjugation.
Deep conflict
Trump has several reasons for wanting to “punish” Spain among all European allies in the alliance. The government in Madrid is openly socialist, friendly toward illegal migrants (especially from Morocco), and Prime Minister Sánchez spoke as early as 2023 about recognizing Palestine against the backdrop of the war in Gaza that was beginning at the time.
The United States is behaving in exactly the opposite manner. The Trump administration views countries with left-wing governments as adversaries, albeit at different levels. It is currently engaged in a trade war with China, which has already led to a Chinese blockade on exports of rare minerals; Venezuela is preparing for a possible invasion in the war against drug cartels; and members of the Brazilian government are being sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act.
Migrants are being pursued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, leading to conflicts with coordinated protests by the Antifa movement and related organizations. Construction of the wall on the border with Mexico has also resumed.
Regardless of the government, Washington continues to support Israel and its actions in the Middle East. It was Trump who moved the US embassy to Jerusalem during his first term, but his predecessors also repeatedly blocked UN resolutions against Israel.
There is therefore an ideological conflict between the US and Spain on several levels. However, NATO, as an extension of the American armed forces, ultimately always sides with Washington—as demonstrated by the almost unanimous approval of raising the spending cap to five percent of GDP.
In realpolitik, major powers always assert their interests—and Spain is no longer a major power.