Trump lashes out at 'laggard' NATO ally as he issues thinly-veiled 'throw them out' threat

Donald Trump singled out a NATO member during a high-profile White House meeting. While hosting Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Thursday, the US President touched upon a series of topics, including the ceasefire deal for Gaza and defence.

Speaking about NATO and the military alliance's proposal to its members to commit to a 5% spending target, Mr Trump singled out ally who previously rejected the plans: Spain. Speaking to reporters, Mr Trump said: "We have a very good relationship [with NATO]. As you know, I requested that they pay 5%, not 2%. And most people thought that was not going to happen, but it happened virtually unanimously.

"We had one laggard, it was Spain. Spain. You have to call them and find why they are a laggard."

He continued: "And they're doing well too, you know, probably because of a lot of the things we've done. The're doing fine. They have no excuse not to do this, but that's alright."

The US President then added: "Maybe you should throw them out of NATO, frankly."

Earlier this year, Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, rejected NATO's proposal for member states to increase their defence spending to 5% of their GDP, saying the idea would "not only be unreasonable but also counterproductive".

The proposal was advanced by Mark Rutte, NATO secretary general, in response to Mr Trump's demands for a 5% target. It suggested member states agree to raise defence spending to 3.5% of their GDP and commit a further 1.5% to wider security spending.

Reacting to the proposal, Sánchez said: "Committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable but also counterproductive because it would move Spain further away from optimal spending and would hinder the EU's ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defence ecosystem.

"It is the legitimate right of every government to decide whether or not they are willing to make those sacrifices. As a sovereign ally, we choose not to."