US PRESIDENT Donald Trump branded Spain a ‘freeloader’ on Thursday in relation to it not spending enough on defence.
Trump was in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum where he formally launched his ‘Board of Peace’.
He stated that Spain is a ‘freeloader’ for being ‘the only NATO country that has not committed to increasing its defence spending to 5% of GDP’.
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Trump added that he would ‘like to talk to that country about it’.
“I have commitments from practically all NATO allies to increase their defence spending to 5% (of GDP), from all except Spain… I don’t know what’s going on with Spain.”
“Why don’t they do it? They want to take advantage,” he claimed
Trump insisted on pointing out Spain as a country that has distanced itself from the rest in terms of its financial commitments to defence within the framework of NATO.
It was the latest in a series of rants against Spanish defence spending by the US president over the last year- including a suggestion that it should be booted out of NATO.
Spain’s government refused to sign an agreement reached at the NATO summit in The Hague last year.
It claims that its level of spending which is currently at 2% of GDP is enough to meet NATO’s objectives.
The administration believes that the 5% figure of 5% is not needed and would strongly harm public services and investments.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, who is in Davos, is urging the EU to move towards creating a joint army as a deterrence.
He said the EU should focus first on bringing together its tangible assets to properly integrate its defence industry, and then mobilising a coalition of the willing.
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I wonder if you still feel the same after the insults fired by Trump at the UK, the EU, Canada and Greenland in the last few days and his invitation to Putin to join him on his latest Board to rival the UN. Yes the ramblings of a narcissist on the edge of insanity but he does have a point when it comes to Spain contributing only 2% of Spanish GDP. Spain may be a long way from Russia but in this day and age modern warfare can cripple your economy at the stroke of a key on a keyboard. Putting more into the NATO defence budget will leave you less to spend elsewhere but surely the safety of your country and it’s people should be a top priority in this uncertain world.