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Recently, when US President Trump met with Finnish President Stubb at the White House, he suddenly made a surprising statement that he should consider "kicking" Spain out of NATO.
This remark was like a bomb, which not only embarrassed the Finnish president present, but also gave Sanchez's government as far away as Madrid a "slap in the face".
According to Trump, Spain is a “backward” because it refuses to raise military spending to 5% of GDP, a standard strongly pushed by Trump at the NATO summit in June this year, with almost all NATO members agreeing to raise defense spending to that percentage by 2035.
While Spain is the only country to openly object, Sanchez insisted that Spain’s military spending remained at a level of 2.1 percent, believing it was enough to meet national defense needs, a position clearly outraged by Trump, who has always advocated “a fair share of the burden of the alliance,” leading to his public threat to kick Spain out of NATO when he met with the Finnish president.
However, can Trump's threat really be implemented? In fact, NATO does not have a formal mechanism to "expel member states". Unless Spain voluntarily withdraws, no member state can unilaterally exclude it from the alliance.
NATO headquarters quickly clarified this, saying that Spain is a "fully empowered NATO member" and "fulfills its goals like the United States". This statement undoubtedly provided strong support for Sanchez's government and made Trump's threat seem insufficient.
The reason Sanchez dared to counter U.S. pressure on military spending was key to Spain’s fiscal reality and domestic politics, with data showing that Spain’s current defense spending accounts for only 1.28 percent of GDP, the lowest among NATO member states.
Despite this, Sanchez believes that raising military spending to 5 percent is “unreasonable and reversible,” which would force Spain to sacrifice livelihoods and shake domestic political stability, knowing that in order to reach the 5 percent goal, Spain will need an additional investment of about €30 billion over the next decade, a huge burden on Spain’s finances.
In the face of Trump’s threat, there have been voices inside the Spanish government, with Defense Secretary Margarita Robles making it clear: “I know that the U.S. military is very well aware of Spain’s commitment to NATO,” a statement that is both a response to Trump’s remarks and a demonstration of Spain’s determination not to easily succumb to external pressure.
Sanchez has repeatedly demonstrated a daring attitude to counter U.S. pressure, and when U.S. allies in Asia and some NATO partners conduct large-scale military exercises in the waters of Guam, Spain sent only one sailing vessel with a century of history to attend, this symbolic participation is reflective.
Spain also abandoned its plan to buy F-35 stealth fighter jets from the United States, all of which demonstrated the independence of Sanchez's government in military cooperation.
For other NATO countries, Trump's threat to Spain has also sounded the alarm. If Spain is at risk of being "expelled" because of military spending today, it may be their turn tomorrow.
At present, less than one-third of more than 30 NATO member countries can meet the military spending standards set by Trump. If Trump really judges the value of allies according to the military spending standards, then NATO's unity will face severe challenges.
By putting pressure on allies, Trump may want to show his "strong leadership" image to domestic voters and shift domestic attention.This tactic of using diplomatic issues as election plus points has been used by Trump many times in the past.
Although Trump's threats were fierce, Sanchez has enough reason to remain calm. NATO rules make it difficult to fulfill Trump's threats. Spain's good relations with countries such as China provide him with room for diplomatic maneuver.
Most of the NATO members will not support Trump’s extremism as it would undermine the alliance’s solidarity and mutual trust foundation.
In the complicated game of international politics, Sanchez's diplomatic wisdom deserves attention. He not only adheres to his own interests, but also skillfully avoids direct conflicts. This balancing technique may be the key to the survival and development of small countries in the game of big countries.
Regardless of the outcome, this turbulence proves once again that in today’s ever-changing international environment, independent foreign policy is better for the long-term interests of countries than blindly following the great powers.
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Offered by Trump to “kick out” NATO The Spanish government remains “absolutely cool”