President Donald Trump has criticized Spain for not contributing enough to NATO, as the defense alliance’s battles fuel tensions between the allies.
“Spain is a bad partner in NATO. They don’t participate. They don’t pay. I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Stop all trade with Spain, please, including tourism,” he said at a press conference in Ankara with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
“Don’t even talk to them. They are hopeless, bad people,” said the president. “There are a few others, but mainly Spain,” he added, referring to other NATO members who he says should spend more on the military.
It marks the latest development in Trump’s row with Spain over its defense spending. It is the only member of the military alliance that did not commit last year to spending 5% of its GDP on defense by 2035.
NATO leaders met in the Turkish capital as the alliance faces a key test of its credibility and future viability, with new European defense spending targets under unprecedented scrutiny from the White House.
The Ankara summit comes one year after the allies pledged to more than double defense spending. Spain secured a record deal as the Southern European country was the only member to refuse to commit to the target.
At the time, Trump threatened a tough trade deal with Spain and said it was “bad” that Spain would not commit to the target.
Spain spent 2.1% of its GDP on defense in 2025, up from 1.4% in 2021, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, but still lags behind many European countries.
Rutte decided, as he sat next to Trump, telling the president: “You got Spain to pay 2%. They spent, they made a big step last year.” Rutte added that there are still “problems to resolve” regarding Spain.
The Spanish Prime Minister’s Office said it saw Trump’s comments as business as usual. In a statement reported by Reuters, the prime minister’s office added that the relationship between the US and Spain is beneficial to both countries in terms of trade and defense.
CNBC has reached out to the Spanish government for further comment.
Trump repeated his criticism of the defense alliance, saying he was “absolutely not happy with NATO,” even if Rutte was “a great leader.” The relationship between Trump and Rutte made headlines last year after Rutte called the president “father” and made real efforts to keep the US engaged.
Intra-NATO tensions flared again after Trump expressed displeasure with NATO allies refusing to join the US war on Iran.
Market reaction
The president also said on Wednesday that he considered the ceasefire to be “over,” prompting a sharp drop in stock markets around the world.
Spanish bonds – which were already trading ahead of the press conference – surged after Trump’s comments, with Spain’s 10-year bond yield last seen trading nearly 10 basis points higher at 3.5682%.
Spanish BEX 35 The equity index also fell, and was last seen trading above 2.8%. Wide pan-European The Stoxx 600 The index fell 1.9% while oil prices rose, reacting to Trump’s comments about the end of Iran.
The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, told CNBC earlier this week that he saw tensions over European governments’ defense spending as “growing pains.”
“I see these as challenges we have faced before,” he said, highlighting the disproportionate spending on defense by European countries, including what he called “laggards” who will have to commit to increasing that amount over the next decade.
— CNBC’s Chloe Taylor contributed to this report
