Hundreds protest in The Hague against NATO, days before the Dutch city hosts alliance summit

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Hundreds of people protested Sunday against NATO and military spending and against a possible conflict with Iran, two days before a summit of the alliance in The Hague that is seeking to increase allies' defense budgets.

“Let's invest in peace and sustainable energy,” Belgian politician Jos d'Haese told the crowd at a park not far from the summit venue.

Although billed as a demonstration against NATO and the war in Gaza, protesters were joined by Iranians who held up banners saying “No Iran War,” the day after the United States launched attacks against three of Iran's nuclear sites.

“We are opposed to war. People want to live a peaceful life,” said 74-year-old Hossein Hamadani, an Iranian who lives in the Netherlands. Look at the environment. “Things are not good. So why do we spend money on war?” he added.

The Netherlands is hosting the annual meeting of the 32-nation alliance starting Tuesday, with leaders scheduled to meet Wednesday.

The heads of government want to hammer out an agreement on a hike in defense spending demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump. The deal appeared largely done last week, until Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that committing Madrid to spending 5% of its gross domestic product on defense "would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive.”

U.S. allies have ramped up defense spending since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, but almost a third of them still don’t meet NATO’s current target of at least 2% of their gross domestic product.

The summit is being protected by the biggest ever Dutch security operation, code named “Orange Shield," involving thousands of police and military personnel, drones, no-fly zones and cybersecurity experts.

Associated Press writer Molly Quell in The Hague contributed.

A puppet of U.S. President Donald Trump is held up during a demonstration ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

People carry banners and flags during a demonstration ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

FILE- Security ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

People attend a demonstration ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

A man holds a placard during a demonstration ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

A woman holds a placard during a demonstration ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

A woman holds a placard during a demonstration ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)