Andrej Babiš praised President Trump’s State of the Union Address, adding that he understands his “Make Amerika Great Again” plan and that he has a similar plan for the Czech Republik.
Sitting next to President Trump in the Oval Office, Andrej Babiš, the prime minister of the Czech Republic, thanked Potus for the warm welcome. He said: “It’s a great pleasure” to be in the White House. He emphasized the long – 100-year old – friendship between the two countries and stressed that business relations between the US and the Czech Republic are growing. He was speaking English.
It is “a special day” to be visiting, Babiš said, because it’s the birthday of Czechoslovakia’s founding father and first president, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, who was “happily married to an American.”
Babiš mentioned that he had watched President Trump’s State of the Union Address, adding that he understands his “Make Amerika Great Again” plan and that he has a similar plan for the Czech Republik.
The prime minister was wearing a dark suit and a grey tie. He was accompanied by his wife.
Some background:
Babiš is the first Czech Republic leader in years to be hosted by a US president. The two leaders have a lot of in common; both were successful business tycoons before entering politics and both were elected on a wave of anti-establishment sentiments in their countries.
The meeting in the Oval Office is being followed by an expanded bilateral meeting. According to the prime minister’s spokesperson, among the attendees, there are the Czech Ambassador to the US and the country’s deputy foreign minister.
One of the topics is cyber-security, where both countries have similar stands on the Chinese company Huawei. The Czech government has reportedly decided to ban Chinese-made Huawei mobile phones from government offices amid concerns that they could be used for data theft.
Later today, the Czech prime minister will lay flowers at the Washington statue of Czechoslovakia’s founding father and first president, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, whose birthday anniversary is also being marked in the Czech Republic.