Trump meets with Polish president at Trump Tower

Former President Trump met Wednesday night with Polish President Andrzej Duda, the latest in a series of conversations the presumptive Republican nominee has held with foreign leaders.

Trump hosted Duda at Trump Tower in New York City, where the former president is staying as he attends his criminal trial over an alleged hush money scheme.

Duda, who enjoyed a good relationship with Trump during his first term, has been a proponent of supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia. Trump has been skeptical of providing aid to Ukraine and has criticized the NATO alliance of which Poland is a member.

“He’s doing a fantastic job. The people of Poland love him, they really do,” Trump said of Duda.

“He’s my friend, and we had four great years together,” Trump added.

The Trump campaign, in a readout issued after the meeting, said the two men spoke for two and a half hours and discussed the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The two men also discussed Duda’s proposal for NATO countries to spend 3 percent of their GDP on defense, the campaign said.

Poland is a NATO member that shares a border with Ukraine, putting it in a potentially precarious position. The U.S. and allies have warned that if Russia overtakes Ukraine, it could look to move into Poland or another neighboring country, triggering a wider global war.

Duda, a right-wing populist, has urged the U.S. to provide more assistance to Ukraine in its war against Russia. Duda visited the White House in February, where he and President Biden marked the 25th anniversary of Poland joining NATO.

Duda also had a strong relationship with Trump and once proposed naming a Polish military base after Trump.

Trump has pushed his “America First” foreign policy, questioning why the U.S. is giving so much assistance to Ukraine and calling on European nations to provide the majority of aid to Kyiv.

The former president has also raised fears among NATO members about his commitment to the alliance in a potential second term.

Trump made headlines with comments at a February rally in which he suggested he would do nothing to protect a NATO ally if they had not spent enough on defense funding.

“I said, ‘You didn’t pay. You’re delinquent.’ He said, ‘Yes, let’s say that happened.’ No, I would not protect you,” Trump told the crowd. “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.”

Trump has, in recent weeks, met with Hungarian President Viktor Orbán and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron. He also reportedly held a call with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Updated at 10:57 p.m.

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