NATO reform after the war in Iran: Trump discusses punishing Spain and Germany and rewarding Poland and Romania

The administration of President Donald Trump is considering punishing North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries that have not supported the United States during the military operation against Iran's Islamic regime.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the White House is considering several options to restructure its participation in NATO, including moving troops and other resources away from certain countries. Under this new vision, countries such as Greece, Lithuania, Poland and Romania could see an increase in U.S. military aid as a result of their supportive stance over the past month

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On the contrary, countries such as Germany and Spain were cited as the biggest losers in this conflict. Spain in particular, with Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at the head of the government, refused to allow American warplanes to access Spanish bases to launch operations against the

Iranian regime.

Relations between the two countries had already fractured before when Sanchez became the only NATO member in Europe to reject Trump's call to increase defense spending to five percent of GDP. Even before this dispute, Spain was among the nations that failed to meet even 2 percent of GDP in defense spending

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The cases of Germany and the United Kingdom

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Although Germany has allowed access to its bases for Iranian operations, Chancellor Friedrich Merz's main allies have criticized the war and Trump's position during the conflict. In addition, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called the conflict a “disastrous mistake” on the part of the United States and

stated that it violated international law.

Another historic ally of Washington, such as the United Kingdom, currently led by the socialist Keir Starmer, initially rejected American access to British bases, although it later allowed only “defensive” operations to be launched from them.

Both France and Italy have been accused of denying access to their airspace. Both countries have also refused to join an international coalition to monitor and reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the

conflict is resolved.

Expressing his frustration with the Atlantist alliance, Trump commented on his social networks yesterday afternoon that “NATO was not there when we needed them, and they will not be there if we need them again” and was responsible for reminding European countries about Greenland, a territory that the president described as “that great and poorly managed piece of ice”.