Trump leaves NATO summit pleased with allies, except one country

President Donald Trump closed out his part in the NATO summit in Ankara Wednesday, displaying more faith in allies to pull their weight in defense spending. “Some have truly answered the call and others are making big changes and will be answering the call," Trump said about the military alliance's goal for member nations to spend 5% of GDP on defense by 2035. Trump has long questioned the value of keeping the United States in NATO, leaving NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte scrambling to keep the alliance together. “I always felt that families, where sometimes you have heart-to-hearts and sometimes you fight each other a bit, are much stronger than families where you have, ‘Oh let’s not disagree and let’s keep things nice and unity.’” That’s a bit fake, I always felt," Rutte said during a press conference Wednesday. The secretary general gave credit to Trump for pushing allies to boost spending. “There is this big irritant, the irritant that the Europeans were not paying the same as the Americans were paying. And this is a frustration on U.S. part since Eisenhower. And this American president has been able to solve this," Rutte said. Hours earlier in front of reporters, Rutte stayed silent while Trump lambasted Spain, calling the ally "a wasted cause." "Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate, they don’t pay. I don’t want anything to do with Spain," Trump said. He then turned to members of his cabinet and said, "Cut off all trade with Spain, please.” The United States has had a trade surplus with Spain since 2022, according to government data, meaning the American economy benefits from the trade relationship more than Spain does. Trump's off-the-cuff remark in front of TV cameras may be as far as he'll go, especially considering he just negotiated a trade deal with the European Union, which includes Spain. “Trade relations are forged between companies, not between governments, not between states," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said. Sánchez said Trump didn't bring up any of his complaints when they were face-to-face. “We talked about soccer, about the World Cup in the United States. It was an informal, casual chat in which there was absolutely no tension whatsoever. On the contrary, everything was, there were kind words and good nature," Sánchez said. READ MORE: https://13wham.com/news/nation-world/... _______________ Stay up to date with our social media: 13 WHAM on Facebook:   / 13wham   13 WHAM on Twitter:   / 13wham   13WHAM on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/13whamtv/?h... 13WHAM on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@13wham?lang=en 13 WHAM Daily Local News Digest:    • 13WHAM Local News Digest   For more information, visit https://13wham.com/ Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: [email protected] Call the Newsroom: (585) 334-8700 WHAM is a NY based station and a ABC Television affiliate owned and operated by Deerfield Media, Inc and receives certain services from an affiliation of Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. #13WHAM #News #Rochester #NewYork