Polish president in talks with Trump over Ukraine war
Andrzej Duda latest leader to meet presumptive Republican nominee for race to White House
Former US president Donald Trump has met in New York with Polish President Andrzej Duda, the latest in a series of meetings with foreign leaders as Europe braces for the possibility of a second Trump term.
The presumptive Republican nominee hosted Duda on Wednesday at Trump Tower, where the two discussed the war in Ukraine and Duda’s push to boost Nato members’ defence spending, according to a readout from Trump’s campaign.
Duda, who has long expressed admiration for Trump, is also a staunch supporter of Ukraine and has encouraged Washington to provide more aid to Kyiv amid Russian’s ongoing invasion. That funding has been held up by Trump allies in Congress.
As he arrived, Trump praised the Polish president, saying: “He’s done a fantastic job and he’s my friend.”
“We had four great years together,” Trump added. “We’re behind Poland all the way.”
Duda is the latest foreign leader to meet Trump in the weeks since he locked up the Republican nomination.
US allies across the world were caught off guard by Trump’s surprise 2016 win, forcing them to scramble to build relationships with a president who often attacked long-standing treaties and alliances they valued. Setting up meetings with him during the 2024 campaign suggests they do not want to be behind again.
Even as he goes on trial for one of the four criminal indictments against him, Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden are locked in a rematch that most observers expect will be very close in November.
While some in Poland worried the visit might damage the country’s relationship with Biden, Democrat Senator Chris Murphy, a Biden ally and a major voice in his party on foreign affairs, said such meetings made sense.
“The polls are close,” he said. “If I were a foreign leader – and there’s a precedent attached to meeting with candidates who are nominated or on the path to being nominated – I’d probably do it too.”
Murphy noted that former president Barack Obama did a lengthy international tour and met foreign leaders when he first ran for the White House.
So did Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who challenged Obama in 2012 and whose trip included a stop in Poland’s capital, Warsaw.
Duda’s visit comes a week after Trump met British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, another Nato member and key proponent of supporting Ukraine, at the former president’s Florida estate.
And last month, Trump hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an autocrat who has maintained the closest relationship with Russia among European Union countries.
Trump also met briefly in February with Javier Milei, the fiery, right-wing populist president of Argentina who ran a campaign inspired by Trump, complete with red “Make Argentina Great Again” hats.
Biden administration officials have been careful not to weigh in publicly on foreign leaders’ meetings with Trump, acknowledging he has a real chance of winning the race.
While some officials have privately expressed frustration with such meetings, they are mindful that any criticism would open the US to charges of hypocrisy because senior American officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, frequently meet foreign opposition figures at various forums in the United States and abroad.
Duda, a right-wing populist who once proposed naming a military base in his country “Fort Trump”, described the dinner earlier on Wednesday as a private get-together between friends at Trump’s former residence while he was in town for meetings at the United Nations.
We had four great years together. We’re behind Poland all the way FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP