By JILL COLVIN and MONIKA SCISLOWSKA (Associated Press)
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump met Wednesday in New York with Polish President Andrzej Duda, continuing a series of meetings with foreign leaders as Europe prepares for the chance of Trump serving a second term.
The expected Republican nominee welcomed Duda at Trump Tower, where they talked about the war in Ukraine and Duda’s efforts to increase NATO members’ defense spending, according to a statement from Trump’s campaign. Duda, who has always expressed admiration for Trump, also strongly supports Ukraine and has urged the U.S. to provide more assistance to Kyiv during Russia’s ongoing invasion. However, this funding has been delayed by Trump allies in Congress.
Trump complimented 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.”
Following the nearly 2 1/2 hour meeting, Duda only said it was a “friendly meeting in a very nice atmosphere.”
His aide, Wojciech Kolarski, who was also present, described it as an “excellent meeting” between “two friends who remembered the time when they worked together for four years while holding presidential offices,” a time that was “very productive for Polish-U.S. relations.”
Duda is the most recent foreign leader to meet with Trump since he secured the Republican nomination. U.S. allies worldwide were surprised by Trump’s unexpected win in 2016, which led them to quickly establish relationships with a president who often criticized longstanding treaties and alliances they valued. Arranging meetings with him during the 2024 campaign indicates that they do not want to be caught off guard again.
Despite facing one of the four criminal indictments against him, Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden are engaged in a rematch that most observers anticipate will be very close in November.
While There were concerns in Poland about the visit potentially harming the country’s relationship with Biden, but Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. — a Biden supporter and influential figure in his party on foreign affairs — said such meetings are reasonable. “The polls are close,” he said. “If I were a foreign leader — and there’s a precedent for meeting with candidates who are nominated or on the path to being nominated — I’d probably