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Former President Donald Trump had dinner with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday, where the two discussed the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East as well as NATO spending.
According to a readout provided by the Trump campaign, the two-and–a-half-hour dinner took place at Trump’s apartment at Trump Tower, where the former president is staying while attending his New York hush money trial.
“We had four great years together,” Trump told reporters ahead of the dinner while appearing with Duda in the Trump Tower lobby. “We may have to do it again.”
While Trump is attending the trial in-person, the proceedings typically take a break on Wednesdays for the duration of the trial, which is expected to last at least six weeks.
Trump’s campaign provided little information about the meeting but stated they discussed Duda’s proposal for NATO countries to boost their defense spending to 3 percent of their gross domestic product — a stance the Polish president also touted in an opinion piece in the Washington Post last month. In the piece, Duda argued that “Russia’s imperialistic ambitions and aggressive revisionism are pushing Moscow toward a direct confrontation with NATO” and that NATO must be prepared to meet the threat.
Trump has refused to commit to protecting NATO, saying that he would condition his support on whether countries in the alliance spend at least 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense.
Trump’s campaign also stated the pair discussed the wars in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas, though it didn’t elaborate.
The dinner with Duda is the latest in a string of discussions Trump has had in recent months with world leaders. Ahead of the November elections, he has spoken with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, dined with British foreign secretary David Cameron, and met with Argentine President Javier Milei and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, according to two people familiar with the talks. Cameron has said that he discussed the question of funding for Ukraine with the former president, according to the Washington Post.
Trump and Duda have long had a warm relationship. Duda has once proposed naming a military base in Poland “Fort Trump” and he visited the White House in 2020, when Trump was in the middle of his reelection campaign.
But Duda, whose term ends in 2025, has pushed the Biden administration to provide more aid to Ukraine, which borders Poland. That position potentially puts him in conflict with Trump, who has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as “genius” and “savvy.”
Last month, Duda and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with Biden to discuss sending weapons to Kyiv. While the conservative Duda and center-right Tusk are in the middle of a political feud back home, the Polish leaders came to Washington to press the White House and Congress to support Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia.
During that March visit, Duda also met with Speaker Mike Johnson, who is currently pushing a multi-part proposal to secure aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific. Biden supports Johnson’s plan and Trump on Friday, during a joint appearance with Johnson at Mar-A-Lago, said he’s “looking at” Ukraine aid though he suggested any assistance could be in the form of a loan rather than “a gift.”
