Donald Trump, speaking from The Hague on Wednesday, said the United States would make Spain pay double in ongoing trade talks after Madrid rejected a new NATO defense spending target of 5% of GDP. The threat came just hours after NATO leaders agreed to major defense spending increases that Trump had pushed hard for. But Spain publicly refused to meet the target, insisting it could fulfill its obligations without crossing that 5% line.
“I think their decision is very terrible,” Trump said. “We’re negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We’re going to make them pay twice as much.” The statement, reported by Reuters, raised eyebrows because Spain, like other EU members, doesn’t make individual trade deals with the U.S.. Those negotiations are handled by the European Commission, representing all 27 member states. That means if Trump wants to carry out this punishment, he’d need to insert that language into a broader agreement with the entire European Union—something that would likely face major opposition.
Trump jokes about ‘daddy’ nickname, defends himself at NATO
Instead of focusing on Spain’s refusal, Trump spent a chunk of the summit praising his own impact on the alliance. “They said, ‘You did it, sir, you did it,’” Trump said. “Well, I don’t know if I did it, but I think I did.” He said this while smiling, clearly enjoying the attention from fellow leaders. When asked about NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte calling him “daddy,” Trump said it was “very affectionately.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, standing behind him, tried not to laugh.
This summit was calmer than the ones Trump attended during his first term. Back then, meetings were tense, with European leaders uncertain about his loyalty to NATO’s collective defense clause. But on Wednesday, Trump said he no longer believed the alliance was a scam. “I left here differently,” he said. “I left here saying that these people really love their countries. It’s not a rip off, and we’re here to help them protect their country.”
Still, not everyone was pleased with how things unfolded. French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking after the summit, called out Trump’s trade threats. “We cannot, among allies, say that we must spend more…and wage a trade war,” Macron said. He added, “It is very important that we can return to what should be the rule within a group of allies…a true trade peace.” Macron was also the only leader to criticize Trump over his decision to hit Iran last week.
Trump says Iran attack was like Hiroshima, meets with Zelenskyy
At the press conference, Trump also talked about the U.S. military strikes on Iran, calling them “very, very successful—total obliteration.” He said media outlets like CNN and The New York Times had “demeaned” U.S. troops with their coverage. He added that intelligence reports backed the attack’s effectiveness. “We think we hit ‘em so hard and so fast, they didn’t get to move,” Trump said. “We destroyed the nuclear. It’s blown up…to kingdom come.”
He even compared the strikes to the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. “That ended the war, too. This ended a war in a different way, but it was so devastating,” Trump said. He claimed that bunker-buster bombs were used and insisted this cleared a path to peace in the Middle East.
Before stepping onstage, Trump held a private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which lasted nearly an hour. He described Zelenskyy as “very nice” and commended Ukraine’s fight. When asked if he’d approve more defense aid, Trump replied, “We’ll see what happens.” A Ukrainian journalist told him her husband was in the military. Trump responded directly, saying, “Vladimir Putin really has to end that war.”
At the very end, Trump was asked why he believed the latest ceasefire between Iran and Israel would hold. “They’re both tired, exhausted,” he said. “They were both satisfied to go home and get out.”
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