The president of the United States, Donald Trump, assured this Wednesday that Spain “completely redeemed itself” after the Government of Pedro Sánchez agreed to an “important payment request” for NATO. These statements come after multiple criticisms by the North American leader of Spain for its refusal to reach 5% of defense spending, during which he even threatened to cut off all commercial relations.
“I must say that I had problems with Spain, and I still do, but today Spain completely redeemed itself. Spain was very generous today… they agreed to an important payment request, and if they had not done so, we would not have even spoken to them,” the president said.
I must say that I had problems with Spain, and I still have them, but today Spain completely redeemed itself
Trump made these statements aboard Air Force One, during the flight back to Washington from Ankara, referring to Spain’s decision to agree to an “important” payment request within the framework of NATO, without offering more details about the agreement.
Previous criticism of Spain
Previously, the North American head of state had insisted that Spain “behaved very badly” for not supporting him in his offensive against Iran, but he highlighted the “tremendous unity” that existed during the summit of NATO leaders.
The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, appeared calm in the face of these accusations and assured that he had had a relaxed conversation with the President of the United States in which they had discussed the Soccer World Cup being held in his country.
Trump did not specify what “important payment request” he was referring to. Until before these statements, the disagreement between Washington and Madrid revolved around the Spanish commitment to the objective of allocating 5% of GDP to defense, a goal that the Government chaired by Pedro Sánchez considers unnecessary to meet NATO’s military requirements.
