criticised<\/a> Spain\u2019s commitment to NATO, arguing that the country is not a particularly strong ally of the United States within the alliance.<\/p>\n\u201cAh, the Spanish, the members of NATO, but not very good members of NATO,\u201d Trump said during a speech in North Dakota. \u201cThey say, \u2018No, we don’t want to help other people. What are we doing?\u2019 They are not behaving nicely. But they will learn soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier on July 1, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker stated that Washington was disappointed with Spain\u2019s actions during the recent US-Israeli conflict with Iran and with Madrid\u2019s unwillingness to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP.<\/p>\n
Spanish authorities have maintained that they can meet their NATO commitments while allocating around 2% of GDP to defence. However, the communiqu\u00e9 adopted at the alliance\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Madrid\u2019s position has drawn sharp criticism from Washington and from Trump personally.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
By Jeyhun Aghazada<\/p>\n
Caliber.Az<\/p>\n
Read more about the key topics in this news story.<\/p>\n
Views: 35<\/p>\n
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