Polish president meets with Trump in New York
Polish President Andrzej Duda met with former US leader Donald Trump during a visit to New York on Wednesday, officials have confirmed.
Andrzej Duda (right) and Donald Trump (left) meet in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.Photo: Marek Borawski/KPRP
Duda and Trump met at Trump Tower in Manhattan in the late evening local time, news outlets reported.
The Polish President’s Office confirmed that the meeting took place as Europe prepares for the possibility of the Republican’s return to the White House.
Marcin Mastalerek, a senior adviser to the Polish president, said Duda and Trump had an „excellent conversation in a friendly atmosphere.”
Another Polish presidential aide, Wojciech Kolarski, said: „It was an excellent meeting between two friends who reminisced about their four years working together as presidents. It was a very productive period for Polish-US relations. Donald Trump repeatedly expressed his deep sympathy for Poland and his appreciation for the Polish people.”
’We are behind Poland all the way’: Trump
Trump said alongside Duda: „We had four great years together, we may have to do it again … We agree on so much we, we are behind Poland all the way. I know Poland feels the same way.”
Trump’s campaign staffers generated significant publicity around the meeting, which lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s US correspondent Marek Wałkuski reported.
Trump’s campaign team said in an X post that Trump and Duda „are great friends” and that they discussed Duda’s „proposal for NATO countries to go to 3% spending on their defense.”
The post added that the two „also discussed the war between Russia and Ukraine, the conflict with Israel in the Middle East, and many other topics having to do with getting to world peace.”
The post continued: „The meeting, which took place in President Trump’s apartment at Trump Tower, lasted for two and a half hours. President Trump fondly recalled his landmark trip to Poland in 2017 and praised the Polish people for steadfast defense of their sovereignty and to their commitment to the security of Europe’s borders from any and all threats. President Trump is a big fan of Poland and of the Polish people.”
Duda is on a weeklong trip to the United States and Canada for talks on international security, infrastructure and energy, according to his aides.
On Wednesday, the Polish president held talks in New York with United Nations officials including Secretary-General António Guterres.
The talks focused on security challenges in Poland’s region, Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and the situation in the Middle East amid an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, according to Mieszko Pawlak, a foreign policy aide to the Polish president.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP
