POTUS welcomes Polish President Andrzej Duda at the White House.
President Andrzej Duda and his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda arrived via motorcade at the South Portico at 12:04. They were greeted by POTUS and Melania Trump and subsequently posed for photos. No audible comments from either President. The Polish delegation entered the White House after the presidential couples.
We are now awaiting the colonnade walk, then heading straight to the Oval Office where we expect both Dudas to be in attendance.
I will have the names of the members of the Polish delegation in a later foreign pool report.
A few notes for your information:
The Polish Consul General was on MSNBC this morning and reacted to press reports of a 1,000 troop increase in Poland. He alluded to the signing ceremony that would “quantitatively and qualitatively” improve the US troop presence in Poland. He said the term “Fort Trump” was “symbolic”.
In this morning’s gaggle with Kellyanne Conway she would not respond to questions about an increased US troop presence in Poland.
Duda last visited the White House on September 18, 2018. On July 6, 2017, POTUS visited Duda in Warsaw.
Duda was elected President of the Republic of Poland on May 24, 2015, and assumed the office on August 6, 2015.
From the Polish Presidency:
President Andrzej Duda will begin his six-day visit to the United States with a White House meeting with US President Donald Trump. The two officials are expected to discuss an increased US military presence in Poland that Warsaw has been advocating for.
President Duda, who is accompanied by his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda, came to Washington with a big governmental delegation that includes Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz and Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.
On the first day of their visit, the Polish presidential couple will be received at the White House by President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.The agenda of the Duda-Trump meeting also includes the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East.The welcome ceremony is planned at noon local time (6 pm CET). Then the presidential couples will hold a conversation in the Oval Office, which will be followed by talks between the two delegations, presided over by Duda and Trump.
After the talks, the two leaders will hold a press conference where they are expected to announce a political agreement concerning an increase of US military presence in Poland.In the afternoon, the presidential couple will attend a reception at the White House, organised by the US president and his wife.
Andrzej Duda will be received by Trump at the White House for the second time, after a similar meeting that took place last autumn.