Former President Donald Trump praised Polish President Andrzej Duda after meeting together in New York City to discuss raising NATO’s spending to three percent, and issues centering around Ukraine and Israel.
In a press release on Wednesday evening, Trump and Duda were described as being “great friends” who not only discussed raising NATO’s minimum limit on spending, but talked about the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and the conflict in the Middle East involving Israel and Hamas.
“The two presidents, who are great friends, discussed President Duda’s proposal for NATO countries to go to 3% spending on their defense,” the press release said.
Trump was captured in video footage posted to X, walking into Trump Tower with Duda.
“He’s doing a fantastic job,” Trump can be heard saying. “The people of Poland love him. They really do.”
Trump added that it wasn’t an “easy thing to accomplish” and recognized Duda as his “friend.”
President @realDonaldTrump welcomes President Andrzej Duda of Poland to Trump Tower 🇺🇸🇵🇱 pic.twitter.com/YFqUgbqpwV
— Margo Martin (@margommartin) April 17, 2024
“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,” the press release from Trump said.
In July 2017, Trump visited Poland where Duda described Poland and the United States as being, “loyal partners,” who worked together on “many different areas within the NATO alliance.”
File/President Donald J. Trump and President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda participates in a joint press conference in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
During the visit, Duda pointed out how serious Trump was regarding security, and thanked him for his support for Polish-Americans.
Poland, which shares a border with countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Germany, is also a member of NATO.
While Trump has opposed sending additional funding to Ukraine, Duda, a conservative, has reportedly encouraged the U.S. to continue to send additional funding to Ukraine.
