WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump criticized Spain’s commitment to NATO on Wednesday, saying the country is not a particularly strong ally of the United States within the alliance.He also said Cuba was "coming our way" after "many, many decades," as he noted the history of the Spanish-American War.Trump delivered the remarks in North Dakota on Wednesday during the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. The trip marked his first flight on the new Air Force One, a gift from the Qatari government to the US last year. "Ah, the Spanish. They're members of NATO, but not very good members of NATO," said Trump. "They say, 'No, we don't want to help other people.' What are we doing? They are not behaving nicely. They will learn soon after they relinquish their grip on Cuba and Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico, and they were all ours. We got them all. And speaking of Cuba, after many, many decades, it's coming our way," Trump said.The remarks came as Trump noted the story of Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders' charge up San Juan Heights during the Spanish-American War from 1936 to 1939.“The Rough Riders victory at San Juan Heights led directly to the collapse of the Spanish line,” he said. The famous charge led to the surrender of the Spanish two weeks later.Earlier on July 1, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker stated that Washington was disappointed with Spain’s actions during the recent US-Israeli conflict with Iran and with Madrid’s unwillingness to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP.Spanish authorities have maintained that they can meet their NATO commitments while allocating around 2% of GDP to defence. However, the communiqué adopted at the alliance’s June 2025 summit stated that member states had agreed to raise defence-related spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, including 1.5% dedicated to defence infrastructure and expenditures related to military support for Ukraine.