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Trump says NATO will have to deal with Spain over defense spending: "It has always paid too little."

US President Donald Trump has accused Spain of being "a country notorious for its low contribution" to defense, and has asserted that NATO "will have to deal with it" if Madrid refuses to meet the same levels as other partners in military spending, which the United States requires to be 5%.

The US president's remarks aboard Air Force One, which was transporting him to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, come after the White House warned on Thursday that all NATO countries, "including Spain," must meet the level of contributions required by Washington.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez believes the 5% target is "unreasonable and counterproductive." Sánchez made this statement in response to a letter from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte proposing that NATO allies invest this percentage in security and defense, despite the fact that not a single NATO member country currently reaches that level of spending.

“Spain has always been a country known for its low contribution” to defense spending, Trump stated. “Either they were good negotiators or they just weren't doing the right thing. Spain should pay the same as everyone else,” the president stated. Although Trump demands this investment from the rest of NATO members, he rules out raising US military spending, officially above $800 billion annually, to that 5% threshold, considering that Washington has historically contributed more than enough to the Alliance's common defense.

Trump plans to travel from Washington on Monday to attend the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 24 and 25, the spokeswoman confirmed.

The US president had abruptly left the Group of Seven summit of developed economies in Kananaskis, Canada, this week, amid escalating tensions in the Middle East following exchanges of fire between Iran and Israel.

During his first term, Trump had demanded that Europeans meet the 2% spending target they had set at the Wales summit in 2014. But upon his return to the White House in January, he began demanding that figure be raised to 5%, arguing that Europeans must do more to contribute to their own defense.