Trump Embraces Nato Allies — Except For Spain

THE HAGUE — President Donald Trump lashed out at Spain on Wednesday, saying it would have to pay “twice as much” in tariffs after Madrid refused to meet NATO’s 5 percent spending target.

It was unclear how Trump could single out Spain directly, as it is part of the European Union, which negotiates with the U.S. on trade as a bloc. Still, his caustic comments and promises of retaliatory measures are the latest example of how the president views tariffs as an expansive tool to bludgeon other nations into accepting his terms, even when the NATO defense spending agreement has nothing to do with trade.

"We're negotiating with Spain on a trade deal and will make them pay twice as much. I'm serious about that,” Trump told reporters at the end of this year’s NATO summit.

Trump’s fit of pique came amid what was otherwise a cheerful victory lap — so conciliatory toward NATO and European allies it almost seemed out-of-character for a man who has a long history of denigrating the transatlantic alliance. During a free-wheeling press conference, Trump affirmed his commitment to NATO, intimated that he could still supply Ukraine with aid, chastised Russian President Vladimir Putin and spoke admiringly of other leaders’ love for their countries.

The president also used his platform to defend his decision to strike Iran’s 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 NATO’s adoption of a new spending goal for members to devote 5 percent of gross domestic product to defense over the next decade as “a monumental win for the United States, because we were carrying much more than our fair share, quite unfair actually.”

But rather than grousing about the past, Trump reveled in his own catalytic role in helping to rebalance 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.”

Asked about Secretary General Mark Rutte’s over-the-top flattery, including calling him “daddy” earlier in the day, Trump joked that the comment was made “very affectionately.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, standing behind the president, struggled to suppress laughter.

The light tone at the summit’s conclusion was far different than past NATO summits involving Trump, which were characterized by dread among allies.

Instead of criticising European freeloading or hedging on America’s Article V commitments, Trump declared outright that NATO allies’ “passion” for their collective defense had erased much of his long-held skepticism about the alliance.

“I left here differently,” Trump 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.”

Trump took the stage for his press conference shortly after a nearly hour-long meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who he described as “very nice” and praised for “fighting a brave battle.”

The president also did not rule out approving additional defense aid for Ukraine — “we’ll see what happens,” he said. Trump expressed empathy for a Ukrainian correspondent who said her husband was in the military and part of the war effort. Perhaps most notably after months of both-sidesing the conflict, he put the onus of ending the war squarely on one side.

“Vladimir Putin really has to end that war,” Trump said.

While European leaders were full of praise for Trump at the summit and credited him with the historic increase in defense spending, some said his tariff negotiations threatened the effort to strengthen collective defense.

“We cannot, among allies, say that we must spend more…and wage a trade war,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters after the summit. “It is very important that we can return to what should be the rule within a group of allies…a true trade peace.”

At a summit marked by a highly intentional, if not forced, degree of comity, the reprimand from Macron, who was also the only leader to criticize Trump’s decision to strike Iran last week, stood out.

Trump spent a good portion of his closing press conference defending the Iran strikes, declaring that they were “very, very successful — total obliteration” and lashing out at CNN and The New York Times over reports that he said “demeaned” the troops involved.

With intelligence assessments still coming in, Trump said the “most respected” reports confirmed that Iran was not able to relocate its nuclear material ahead of the U.S. attacks.

“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.”

Trump also compared the attack to the nuclear bombs the United States detonated over 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, claiming that the use of “bunker-buster bombs” has “paved the way for peace” in the Middle East.

Asked what gave him confidence the day-old ceasefire between Iran and Israel would hold, Trump said: “They’re both tired, exhausted. They were both satisfied to go home and get out.”