Trump in Warsaw to start his trip
WARSAW, Poland — President Donald Trump is opening his two-nation European visit with what he expects to be a short but warm stop in Poland before he encounters what could be a frostier reception and thornier issues at an international summit in Germany. Trump’s sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin could put Trump’s skills as a negotiator to the test.
Trump arrived in Warsaw late Wednesday for a 16-hour visit that includes a keynote address to the Poles from Krasinski Square, site of a monument commemorating the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis. Scores of people who lined darkened roads waved American and Polish flags and recorded video of Trump’s motorcade as it sped him and his wife, Melania, to their hotel.
Trump has scheduled talks with the leaders of Poland and Croatia and may hold a joint news conference — his first one abroad — with Polish President Andrzej Duda. He also was meeting with the heads of a dozen countries bordered by the Baltic, Adriatic and Black seas. Collectively known as the Three Seas Initiative, the group aims to expand and modernize energy and trade with a goal of reducing the region’s dependence on Russian energy.
Duda told Polish broadcaster TVN24 on Wednesday that he wants to tackle concrete issues like energy security in the meeting with Trump, not engage in “some general talk about world security.”
Trump also will walk a fine line when he meets Friday with Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit of the world’s leading rich and developing countries in Hamburg, Germany. The sit-down comes with relations between the two nations at a low point, even though Trump has shown reluctance to adopt a harder line toward Russia amid conclusions by multiple U.S. intelligence agencies that Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election to benefit Trump, and investigations into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russian government officials.
Even his top aides do not know precisely what Trump will decide to say or do when he meets Putin.
“There’s a fair amount of nervousness in the White House and at the State Department about this meeting and how they manage it because they see a lot of potential risks,” said Steven Pifer, a former ambassador to Ukraine who has worked for the National Security Council and the State Department. “There is this gray cloud for the president of the investigations about collusion, so any kind of a deal is going to get the micro-scrutiny of, ‘Is this a giveaway to the Russians?”’
Trump’s team said he might bring up Russia’s documented meddling in the 2016 election, but he is unlikely to dwell on it: doing so would emphasize doubts about the legitimacy of his election. Aides expect him to focus on Syria, including confronting Putin’s unwillingness to stop the government of President Bashar Assad from using chemical weapons against civilians.
Poland, at least, seems to offer Trump a chance to shine.
Polish media reports say the government promised the White House cheering crowds as part of its invitation. Ruling-party lawmakers and pro-government activists plan to bus in groups of people for Trump’s speech.
Trump may use Poland as an exemplar of partnership. A U.S. ally in Iraq and Afghanistan, Poland is among the five NATO members that spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on the military. That’s something that Trump — and U.S. leaders before him — have demanded of NATO allies.
Poland also hosts a few thousand U.S. troops and is a regular purchaser of U.S. military equipment.