The talks were supposed to be a prelude to Finland’s purchase of the icebreaker.
But as US President Donald Trump welcomed Finnish President Alexander Stubb to the Oval Office on Thursday, he strayed into a discussion of the ongoing feud with the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) and one of its members, Spain.
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At the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in June, Spain was the most prominent resistance to President Trump’s push to increase defense spending among member states.
President Trump has long urged all NATO members to allocate 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) to military assets. However, Spain successfully sought an exemption at the June meeting, allowing it to keep spending close to the previous threshold of 2%.
That reluctance remained in Trump’s mind during Thursday’s meeting when he discussed America’s commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with Stubb.
“You know, I asked them to pay 5% instead of 2%,” Trump said of NATO members.
“And most people thought that wasn’t going to happen. And it happened almost unanimously. We had one laggard, and that was Spain. It was Spain. We have to call them and find out. Why are they laggards?”
He then pondered retaliation, saying, “They have no excuse not to do this, but that’s fine. Frankly, maybe we should kick them out of NATO.”
The remarks were a sour note during a friendly meeting with Mr. Stubb that President Trump hosted at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in March.
Since his first term as president, Trump has wavered in his public comments on NATO, sometimes embracing the alliance and sometimes rejecting it as “obsolete.”
But Trump, seated next to Stubbe and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, took a clearly enthusiastic approach to defending Finland, one of NATO’s newest members. It joined the alliance in April 2023, followed less than a year later by Sweden.
At a meeting in the Oval Office on Thursday, reporters pressed President Trump on what he would do if Russia expands the war in Ukraine to other European countries.
Fears of Russian interference loom large in Finnish politics. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated further since the former Soviet Union invaded Finland in the 1930s, and Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Finland closed its shared border with Russia in 2024. This border stretches for 1,340 kilometers (841 miles).
“What would you do if Russia and Vladimir Putin attacked Finland? Would you defend Finland?” one reporter asked President Trump on Thursday.
Trump paused and did not respond. “We will. Yes, we will. They are members of NATO.”
Nevertheless, he cast doubt on the prospects of an invasion of Russia under Putin.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen. I don’t think he would do that. I think the chances are very small,” he said, turning to Stubb. “You have a very powerful army, one of the best.”
When asked specifically how he would defend Finland if it were attacked, President Trump responded with one word: “vigorously.”
These warm remarks were in stark contrast to his approach towards Spain. For example, following the June NATO summit, President Trump called Spain’s position “hostile,” threatened the country’s economy, and promised to make the United States pay “double” tariffs.
“I think it’s terrible for Spain, what they did,” he told reporters, accusing the country of “free riding” at the expense of other countries. “If something bad happens, that economy can be blown away instantly.”
NATO was founded with 12 original member states and has since expanded to 32 countries. Spain joined in 1982. So far, no member state has been expelled.
