Steve Peoples, Associated Press
53 minutes ago
FILE – Polish President Andrej Duda addresses a press conference at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania during the Three Seas Initiative Summit and Business Forum in Vilnius, April 11, 2024. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Polish President Andrzej. Duda in New York on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Klubis, File)
NEW YORK (AP) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda in New York on Wednesday.
The planned dinner, officials confirmed, comes as European leaders prepare for a possible victory for Trump in the November election and his return to the White House. NATO leaders are particularly concerned given President Trump's long history of making critical comments about the important Western alliance, even after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Poland shares a border with Ukraine and is a member of NATO. Duda, a right-wing populist whose term ends in 2025, has encouraged the United States to send additional funds to Ukraine to fight Russian aggression.
President Trump has expressed opposition to such funding, but in a possible change of direction late last week, Republican presidential candidates said they might support additional funding in the form of loans.
Trump is in New York this week for the start of his hush money criminal trial, which has severely restricted his campaign movements. He is now the first former president in U.S. history to face a criminal trial.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Washington are fighting within their ranks over massive foreign aid plans for Ukraine, Israel and other allies. Trump's “Make America Great Again” campaign specifically criticizes funding for Ukraine, which coincides with a softening of the Republican Party's stance toward Russia since Trump's rise in American politics. I am in a position to do so.
President Trump has long praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling his invasion of Ukraine “wise” and “sensible.” In February, he shocked the world when he told a rally that he would “encourage” NATO members who don't spend enough on defense to “do whatever they want” to Russia. Ta. He repeated the threat several days later.
Such a move would undermine Article 5, which states that an armed attack against one or more NATO members is considered an attack against all members.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, another NATO member and a key supporter of support for Ukraine, met with President Trump at the former president's Florida mansion earlier this month, ahead of a visit with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Russia's European allies are also courting President Trump.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the dictator who has maintained the closest ties to Russia among European Union countries, met privately with President Trump last month.
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Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.