NATO just got its 32 members to sign off on a sweeping new pledge to ramp up defense spending—but not without a dramatic showdown from Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who made one thing clear: he’s not playing Trump’s game.
The compromise deal, sealed ahead of next week’s summit in The Hague, commits allies to spending 3.5% of GDP on core military needs and 1.5% on broader “defense-related” areas like infrastructure and cybersecurity. That brings the new target to a combined 5% GDP benchmark—a figure pushed hard by Donald Trump, who’s been banging the drum on Europe’s defense “freeloading” since his first presidency.
But as always with NATO, unity isn’t as clean as it looks on paper.
Within minutes of signing the pledge, Sanchez issued a statement insisting that Spain’s participation did not mean agreeing to spend 5% of its GDP on defense. According to Sanchez, Spain can fulfill its NATO commitments with just 2.1%—thank you very much.
This isn’t just a budgeting dispute; it’s a test of political courage. Sanchez is caught between pleasing NATO allies and pacifying his coalition partner Sumar, which is staunchly against increased military spending. In the days leading up to the summit, Sanchez even fired off a fiery letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, calling the 5% figure “unreasonable” and “counterproductive.”
You can almost hear the diplomatic teeth grinding from Brussels to Berlin.
And yet, the drama has real implications. The spending pledge is meant to send a clear signal to Russia and shore up transatlantic relations in the face of an unpredictable U.S. political climate. Trump has already threatened to pull back American support, especially if he returns to power in November.
With European defense increasingly vulnerable to internal fragmentation, Spain’s pushback feels less like defiance and more like a stress test of NATO’s unity. And let’s not forget—Europe already has more military potential than Russia. What’s missing is political coordination and the will to spend smart, not just spend big.
This tension echoes wider concerns across the continent. Countries like Germany are pumping billions into Ukraine aid, while others like Hungary are still cozying up to Moscow. Spain’s latest stance shows that even within NATO’s “unified front,” there are very different visions of what defense actually means.
Diplomats say the summit language was softened slightly from “we commit” to “allies commit”—a subtle shift, but one that may let Sanchez save face at home. Still, Spain’s near-derailment of the pledge signals growing resistance within Europe to Trump-style defense metrics that reduce national security to a percentage point on a spreadsheet.
Defense isn’t just about numbers—it’s about strategy, values, and priorities. Spain may be spending less than others want, but it’s also reminding NATO that pressure tactics don’t always translate into consensus.