Senior officials inside NATO and the Spanish government are not too concerned with President Donald Trump’s threats to punish the country for its perceived inadequate spending on defense.

“The threat is not being taken seriously at the military level,” said a senior NATO officer at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Brussels. “Spaniards are reacting calmly.” The officer was granted anonymity to discuss internal thinking.

The relative shrug comes as Trump’s rhetoric has grown increasingly hostile in recent weeks, criticizing Spain over its low spending amid the administration’s push to make European countries less reliant on the United States’ military umbrella.

“You’re going to have to talk to Spain,” Trump told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday. “Spain is not a team player.”

Trump has pushed NATO members to spend at least 5 percent of their GDP on national defense. At a NATO summit in The Hague in June, most members agreed to a spending target of 5 percent of GDP — 3.5 percent on core military expenditure and 1.5 percent in defense-related areas such as military mobility by 2035.

But not Spain, which asked for a carveout. Madrid has the lowest military spending of any NATO member country, allocating just 1.3 percent of its GDP to defense in 2024.

And its refusal to commit to more has irked Trump, who this month said NATO should consider throwing Spain out of the alliance. The president’s anger further strains an already complex transatlantic relationship in which he has upended trade relationships, imposed new tariffs and lectured leaders on migration and climate change. European leaders, meanwhile, have worked hard to maintain a positive relationship with Trump as they hope to influence him on a range of issues, especially the war in Ukraine.

Trump also suggested he’d impose new tariffs Spain, which is a member of the European Union. It’s not clear how Spain could be singled out but, for now, the Spanish don’t seem too concerned.

What matters—and we should say it with pride—is that Spain is a reliable and responsible ally, that it has been in the Atlantic Alliance for 40 years, that it has paid a very high price with the lives of Spanish service members, that it is willing to take part in every mission assigned to it, and that it is making a very important effort in the Spanish and European defense industry, creating jobs and honoring commitments,” said Margarita Robles, Spain’s defense minister told reporters last week.

“So, even if some do not acknowledge it, Spain is a country that delivers, and an ally respected by the other members of the Alliance.”

Robles added that 2035 is a long way off and the alliance’s priority should be what is happening in Ukraine.

But Trump remains focused on Spain’s refusal and is still “considering economic consequences,” said Anna Kelly, spokesperson for the White House.

“President Trump always means what he says, and his actions speak for themselves,” she said. “While every other NATO ally agreed to increase its defense spending to five percent, Spain was the only country that refused.”