Trump threatens Spain will pay 'twice as much' after refusal to increase military spending

US President Donald Trump has threatened Spain will pay "twice as much" due to its refusal to increase military spending at the NATO summit.

In response to a question from the Catalan News Agency (ACN) during a NATO press conference, Trump criticized Spain for being "the only country" who has not committed to meeting the defense spending target agreed in The Hague.

Trump criticized the Spanish government for wanting to stick to 2.1%: "I think Spain is terrible, what they've done."

"I like Spain – it's a great place and they're fantastic people," Trump stressed, adding: "But Spain is the only country that refuses to pay. They want a free ride, but they'll have to pay it back to us on trade because I'm not going to let that happen."

"We're negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We're going to make them pay twice as much," Trump said, despite the fact that the EU negotiates collectively with Washington on trade policy.

Spain controversy at NATO

The leaders of NATO's 32 member states signed a new defense spending pledge on Wednesday afternoon, aiming for 5% of GDP by 2035.

The target is broken down into 3.5% of GDP for direct military spending and 1.5% for areas such as security and defense industry investments.

Spain, however, stated that allocating 2.1% will be enough to meet the alliance's agreed military capability goals.

PM Sánchez defends position

After Trump's comments, Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez defended his commitment to meeting NATO's military goals as "realistic," "sufficient" and "compatible" with the "social model and welfare state" in Spain.

The European Commission said it was "fully and deeply committed" to trade negotiations with the United States and to a "mutually beneficial" solution to tariffs.