US President Donald Trump has once again lashed out at Spain on Tuesday, asserting that Pedro Sánchez's government's decision not to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP is"extremely disrespectful to NATO" and likely worthy of economic and tariff retaliation.

Trump made this statement from the White House when questioned by reporters at a lunch with Argentine President Javier Milei. Asked whether he stood by his words from last Thursday, in which he floated the possibility of"perhaps expelling Spain" from the Atlantic Alliance, the US president this time took a different approach. He didn't insist on expulsion, but rather on punishment for what he considers a selfish and"unfair" stance toward all other members of the Alliance.

"I'm very unhappy with Spain," he said after thinking about his answer for a few seconds and making a face of disgust."They're the only country that didn't increase their percentage to 5%. All the other NATO countries increased it to 5%. Spain is doing very well at our expense. So I'm not happy with Spain. They get protection and they know, because they're in the middle, that protection will be automatic. Even if you don't want to protect them, you protect them because of their location. And I think what Spain did is very bad for NATO. I think it's very unfair to NATO," he said.

Trump has been mulling over for a few seconds the situation he considers paradoxical: having to defend a country even if you don't want to."It wouldn't matter if you said you weren't going to protect them, because they're practically protected. What are you going to do? Go through other countries and attack Spain? But I think what they did isn't right. I think it's disrespectful to NATO."

After that initial attack, with elements unused to date, the president has continued. Since 2016, he had toyed with the hypothesis of removing the US from the alliance. Or of failing to protect a country that doesn't contribute. But until last week, he hadn't considered the option of expelling a member for not fulfilling the same commitments as the rest, after Pedro Sánchez signed The Hague Declaration last summer, but saying at the same time that he would use all existing flexibility and would not reach 5% of defense spending, asserting that it would not be necessary. Something that the member countries, and the Secretary General himself, Mark Rutte, have publicly stated they believe is impossible.

So Trump has resurrected his favorite weapon: tariffs."I was actually thinking about punishing them commercially with tariffs for what they did, and I may do that. I find it incredibly disrespectful. Spain is the only NATO country that has said that, and I think they should be punished for it," he concluded.

The European Commission, which oversees trade for EU members, reached an agreement with the US last summer, but the president, unpredictably, could strike again. Not directly and solely at our country, but at the sectors with the greatest exposure, as already happened in part during his first term.