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The free ride for Spain is over!
President Trump just put them on notice that theyβre going to payβ¦one way or another.
As we previously reported here on WLT Report:
One of President Donald Trumpβs key foreign policy positions has long been that other NATO member nations must begin to pay their fair share of the costs disproportionately carried by the US.
While most of those countries have responded with their own promises to increase the share of their GDP they spend on defense, thereβs been one notable holdout.
And during this weekβs NATO summit, Trump made it clear that Spainβs refusal to pony up extra money would not go unnoticed.
Hereβs how the Daily Wire covered the presidentβs remarks:
βYouβre the only country that is not paying. I donβt know what the problem is,β Trump said at the NATO summit in The Hague when questioned about Spainβs refusal to go along.
βYou know what weβre gonna do? Weβre negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. Weβre going to make them pay twice as much. And Iβm actually serious about that,β the president added.
NATO members agreed to increase defense spending from the current 2% level to 5% of their countryβs gross domestic product by 2035. Spain was the only member that rejected this target, arguing that it would strain the countryβs extensive welfare state.
βWe fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defense investment, but we are not going to do it,β Spanish Prime Minister Pedro SΓ‘nchez said before the summit.
The bold rhetoric aimed at Spain in recent days has drawn some attention on social media:
The president had kind words for the remaining member nations for their agreement to increase funding to the 5% level.
Politico covered some of the other remarks Trump made in his NATO address:
The president also used his platform to defend his decision to strike Iranβs nuclear sites as an unequivocal success. He also lashed out at media outlets that reported on intelligence assessments which suggested Iranian capabilities were set back mere months.
Trump heralded NATOβs adoption of a new spending goal for members to devote 5 percent of gross domestic product to defense over the next decade as βa monumental win for the United States, because we were carrying much more than our fair share, quite unfair actually.β
But rather than grousing about the past, Trump reveled in his own catalytic role in helping to rebalance the alliance. βThey said, βYou did it, sir, you did it,ββ Trump said. βWell, I donβt know if I did it, but I think I did.β
Hereβs some additional coverage of his address, per Fox News:
Your thoughts?
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