Donald Trump threw his EU and NATO allies into confusion in the first hours after taking office as US president (his second term), claiming that Spain is part of BRICS.
In the Oval Office, Trump was asked what measures he planned to take against NATO countries that spend the least money on defense relative to their gross domestic product. “Spain spends very little... They are a BRICS country. Do you know what BRICS is? "You'll find out," Trump told the reporter who asked him the question.
The president repeated his threat to impose tariffs on the BRICS, saying "we're going to impose at least 100% tariffs on the business they do with the United States." The move is part of his economic plans that would overturn decades of free trade consensus, the AP reported.
BRICS is actually an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Spain is one of the European Union's largest economies and has not expressed a desire to join the BRICS.
Spain is one of eight countries that failed to meet NATO's goal of spending 2% of GDP on defense last year. Trump said he wanted NATO members to reach 5% defense spending, a goal that many experts say is unattainable.
A Spanish government spokesman immediately responded to Trump's words, confirming that “Spain is not in BRICS“. Madrid said it did not know whether Trump's words were the result of confusion or why the US president made the comment.