Trump suggests 'throwing out' Spain from NATO over defense spending

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Oct. 9 that he might propose removing Spain from NATO, claiming the country fails to meet defense spending requirements.

The president made the remark during a meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, praising Finland for increasing its defense spending while criticizing Spain as a "laggard."

"Spain — you have to call them and find, why are they a laggard?" the U.S. president said. "And they're doing well too, you know. Because of a lot of the things we've done, they're doing fine."

"They have no excuse not to do this. Maybe you should throw them out of NATO, frankly."

Trump has long accused NATO members of underfunding their militaries and relying too heavily on the U.S. He has pushed to raise the defense spending targets well above the 2% standard.

At NATO's June summit, allies agreed to Trump's proposal to increase defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP), with 3.5% for core military spending and 1.5% for security investments.

Spain, governed by a Socialist-led coalition, was the only member that refused to adopt the benchmark.

"Committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote, arguing it would "move Spain further away from optimal spending."

According to NATO estimates for 2024, only 23 of 32 members reached the 2% goal. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte nevertheless said that all allies are expected to hit the 2% benchmark by the end of this year as defense expenditures grow.

Spain spent only 1.24% GDP on defense in 2024 — the lowest share in the alliance — but pledged to increase it to 2.1% on core military spending.

While Trump's remarks underscore his confrontational approach to alliance burden-sharing, NATO's founding treaty does not provide a mechanism for expelling a member.  

Membership is based on sovereign consent, and decisions are made by consensus, meaning only political or diplomatic pressure could be used if a member fails to meet commitments.