NATO's future

Trump threatens tariffs after Spanish NATO exemption

Donald Trump is threatening Spain with tariffs after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez managed to negotiate an exemption from the NATO target of spending 5 percent of GDP on defense, the Financial Times reports.

According to the newspaper, the move should be seen as a signal to Spain, since Trump cannot impose tariffs on individual EU countries but must negotiate such agreements with the entire Union.

According to Sanchez, Spain can meet a comparable defense capability at a lower price and has offered to increase the country's defense spending to 2.1 percent, "no more, no less," Bloomberg reports.

The decision has also drawn criticism from other NATO countries. A diplomat calls Sanchez's actions "selfish and reckless" and tells the Financial Times that "everyone has a problem with spending, but he tried to make it about himself."

Trump overjoyed: "Had a meal with a king and queen"

Donald Trump seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself at the dinner that followed Wednesday's NATO meeting. The Wall Street Journal reports that the president usually doesn't like big meetings very much.

Trump often gets impatient but says the meeting was "fantastic" and has pointed out that he listened to all the speeches. During the dinner party, he looked up with delight at the crystal chandeliers in the royal palace Huis ten Bosch, where he spent the night as a guest of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima.

- I actually had breakfast today with a king and a queen - incredibly beautiful people. Like something out of a movie.

The meeting was preceded by Trump being heavily flattered, including by NATO chief Mark Rutte.