Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez walked away from this week’s NATO summit in the Netherlands, the Associated Press reports, opting out from spending more on defence, which Donald Trump has been pushing for.

The country has also seen fresh threats of tariffs from the US President.

At a meeting on Wednesday, NATO members agreed to increase their defence spending to 5% of GDP.

But Mr Sanchez secured a last-minute exemption, saying that Spain will only spend up to 2.1%, which he called “sufficient and realistic”.

“What is clear is that trade policy is a policy directed from here, from Brussels,” Mr Sanchez said.

“Spain is an open country. It is a country that is friendly to its friends, and we consider the United States a friend of Spain.”