Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks with Polish President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.
Stefan Jeremiah/AP
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Stefan Jeremiah/AP
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks with Polish President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.
Stefan Jeremiah/AP
Former President Donald Trump met with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday in New York, the latest in a series of meetings with foreign leaders as Europe prepares for a possible second term in office. Trump.
According to a news release from Trump’s campaign, the presumptive Republican nominee hosted Duda at Trump Tower, where the two discussed the war in Ukraine and Duda’s push for increased defense spending. of NATO members. Duda, who has long expressed admiration for Trump, is also a staunch supporter of Ukraine and has encouraged Washington to provide more aid to Kiev amid the ongoing Russian invasion. That funding was held by Trump’s allies in Congress.
Upon arrival, Trump praised the Polish president, saying: “He’s done a great job and he’s my friend.”
“We have had four wonderful years together,” Mr. Trump added. “We are behind Poland in every aspect.”
After the meeting, which lasted nearly 2 and a half hours, Duda said only that it was a “friendly meeting in a very nice atmosphere”.
His assistant, Wojciech Kolarski, also attended, describing it as a “wonderful meeting” of “two friends who reminisced about the four years they worked together as president”. , a period that was “very productive for Polish Americans”. relationship.”
Duda is the latest foreign leader to meet with Trump in the weeks since he retained the Republican nomination. America’s allies around the world were caught off guard by Trump’s unexpected victory in 2016, forcing them to work to build relationships with a president who often attacks long-standing treaties and alliances that they value. Arranging meetings with him during the 2024 campaign suggests they do not want to fall behind again.
Even while on trial for one of four criminal charges against him, Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden are locked in a rematch that most observers expect will be extremely close in November.
While some in Poland worry the visit could damage the country’s relationship with Biden, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. – a Biden ally and a major voice in his party on foreign affairs – said such meetings were meaningful.
“The polls are close,” he said. “If I were a foreign leader – and there was a precedent for meeting with candidates who were nominated or on the way to be nominated – I probably would do that too.”
Murphy noted that former President Barack Obama went on an extended international trip and met with foreign leaders when he first ran for the White House. Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, challenged Obama in 2012 and whose trip included a stop in the Polish capital Warsaw.
Duda’s visit comes a week after Trump met British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, another NATO member and a major proponent of Ukraine’s support, at the former president’s Florida residence.
In March, Trump hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a dictator who maintains the closest relationship with Russia among European Union countries. Orbán shared a video of the visit on his Instagram feed, which showed him and his staff meeting with Trump and the former president’s aides in what appeared to be a scene. official bilateral meeting.
Trump also met briefly in February with Javier Milei, Argentina’s fiery, right-wing populist president, who ran a Trump-inspired campaign, complete with red “Make Argentina Great” hat. great return”. Milei excitedly hugged Trump backstage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, according to video posted by a Trump campaign aide.
Biden administration officials have been careful not to publicly weigh in on foreign leaders’ meetings with Trump, acknowledging that he has a real chance of winning the race.
While some officials privately expressed frustration with such meetings, they noted that any criticism would expose the United States to charges of hypocrisy because senior American officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, regularly meet with foreign opposition figures at various forums in the United States. and abroad.
Security and policy officials oversee the travel plans of foreign officials visiting the US, but generally have no say over their travel, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss protocol. where or who to meet.
Trump returned to his hometown this week to begin his hush-money criminal trial, which has significantly limited his ability to travel and campaign. While in town, aides planned a series of events that began Tuesday night when Trump, after a court adjournment, stopped by a Harlem bar where a man was killed to protest crime and criticize the district attorney, who made him the first former district attorney. The first president in American history to face criminal trial.
Duda, a right-wing populist who once proposed naming a military base in his country “Fort Trump,” described last Wednesday’s dinner as a private meeting between people friends at Trump’s old residence when he was in town for a meeting at the United Nations. , where Duda will give a speech.
“I was invited by Donald Trump to his private apartment,” Duda told reporters, saying it was “a normal practice when a country that has good relations with another country” wants that relationship is as strong as “possible with representatives of the various factions of the political stage.”
“We know each other as people,” said Duda, whose term ends in 2025. Like you two, I can tell in a way, guys.”
Duda’s visit comes as House Republicans are debating a $95 billion foreign aid bill that would provide new funding for Ukraine, including money for the US military to replace Weapons supplies are running out. Polish leaders have urged the House of Representatives to approve the aid bill and calm domestic concerns.
Many of Trump’s allies in the House are fiercely opposed to supporting Ukraine, even as the country warns that it is facing difficulties amid a new Russian attack. Trump said he may be willing to provide assistance in the form of loans.
One area where Trump and Duda agree when it comes to the conflict is their desire to push NATO members to increase defense spending. Duda has called on coalition members to increase their spending to 3% of gross domestic product as Russia continues to invade Ukraine. That would represent a significant increase from the current commitment of 2% by 2024.
Trump, in a stunning break from US precedent, has long criticized the Western alliance and threatened to withhold protection from member states that fail to meet that spending target. That threat goes to the heart of the alliance’s Article 5, which declares that any attack against one NATO member shall be considered an attack against all.
In February, Trump went even further, recalling that he had told the leaders that he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever they want” to the members — in a manner of speaking. his – “illegal”.
Trump’s campaign said the two discussed the NATO proposal during the meeting. The two also discussed Israel and the Middle East, Trump’s 2017 trip to Warsaw, “and many other topics related to achieving world peace,” the campaign said in its message, which described the men as “great friends.”
The visit was met with mixed reaction in Poland, where concerns about Russia are high and Duda’s cozy relationship with Trump has been a source of controversy.
Poland’s centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Duda, criticized the dinner but expressed hope that Duda would use it as an opportunity “to raise the issue on the side of the world”. Western world, democracy and Europe in this Ukraine-Russia meeting.” conflict.”
