Nato says ‘no provision’ to expel members after report US could seek to suspend Spain

NATO expel member: Alliance rejects Trump push to oust Spain as allies warn of split

Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

NATO headquarters issued an unprecedented statement confirming “no provision exists” to suspend any of the alliance’s 32 members after U.S. President Donald Trump instructed aides to explore removing Spain.

The alliance’s intervention came four hours after the Financial Times reported Trump’s team had asked lawyers whether Washington could force Madrid out over Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s refusal to back Trump’s Latin America policies.

Spain joined NATO in 1982 and houses U.S. warships at Rota naval base overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar, a chokepoint the Pentagon calls “critical for Middle East deployments.”

Diplomats told reporters that Trump’s demand stunned senior U.S. military officers who warned cutting Spain loose would surrender one of America’s most strategic Mediterranean footholds.

NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said late Monday that membership rules “contain no mechanism for suspension or expulsion,” adding that any such move would require unanimous consent of all allies including Spain itself.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to confirm the report but said “the president believes allies must share our burden and our values.”

Tensions flared last month when Sánchez denounced Trump’s recognition of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado as president, calling it “election interference pure and simple.”

Spanish officials said Vice President JD Vance phoned Defense Minister Margarita Robles Sunday demanding Madrid deploy troops to a proposed U.S. coalition against Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.

Robles refused, telling Vance Spain’s constitution bars offensive operations except under U.N. mandate, according to three people familiar with the call.

Trump erupted when briefed, one aide said, instructing National Security Adviser Pete Hegseth to study “ripping up Spain’s card.”

Legal scholars briefed on the conversation told GlobalBeat the U.S. lacks leverage unless it threatens to quit NATO itself, a move that would shred post-war American influence in Europe.

Germany’s foreign ministry warned that opening the door to expulsions “would destroy the alliance from within,” while France’s armed forces minister called the idea “institutional suicide.”

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares cut short a trade mission to Mexico City and flew to Brussels for emergency talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte early Tuesday.

Albares told reporters outside NATO headquarters that Spain “will not be bullied into foreign adventures,” adding that Rota base hosts 4,000 U.S. sailors and 40 percent of American supplies bound for Africa.

An internal Pentagon memo obtained by GlobalBeats warns that losing Rota would force the Navy to reroute carriers through Italian ports, adding 10 days’ sailing time for Middle East missions.

U.S. European Command spokesperson Commander Dawn Stankus declined to comment on “classified planning documents.”

Senate Armed Services Committee chair Roger Wacker, a Republican, broke with Trump, saying “weakening NATO to settle political scores is foreign policy malpractice.”

Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell accused the president of “playing Russian roulette with global security,” noting Moscow has long sought to fracture the alliance.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday called the dispute “proof of NATO’s coming collapse,” a statement likely to inflame U.S. hawks who insist unity deters Putin.

Shares in Spanish defense firm Indra slid 7 percent on Madrid’s IBEX index amid fears Washington could cancel planned radar upgrades worth €800 million at Rota.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto ran into Albares at Brussels airport and promised Rome would veto any expulsion attempt, telling reporters “NATO isn’t a country club where Uncle Sam tears up memberships.”

Background

Spain entered NATO during a turbulent 1982 vote weeks after a failed military coup, seeking shelter under the U.S. security umbrella as it transitioned to democracy.

American forces arrived at Rota the following year, turning the sleepy fishing port into what Naval officers now call “the entry gate to the Med,” hosting ballistic missile defense destroyers and nuclear submarine support facilities.

The alliance has never expelled a member. The closest precedent came in 1966 when France, under Charles de Gaulle, quit the integrated command structure but remained technically part of NATO; Paris rejoined in 2009.

What’s Next

Sánchez will address Spain’s parliament Wednesday amid mounting pressure from opposition parties to reassure voters of Spain’s NATO future, while alliance ambassadors hold a closed-door session Thursday to discuss formal safeguards against future expulsion threats.

The clash underscores how Trump’s transactional worldview collides with Cold-era treaties designed precisely to prevent tit-for-tat retribution among allies, leaving diplomats scrambling to patch legal gaps before Washington tests them again.