Trump Pledges US Support for Poland Amid Russia Threat as He Welcomes Nawrocki

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump welcomed Poland’s newly elected president, Karol Nawrocki, to the White House on Sept. 3, which was Nawrocki’s first official visit to Washington since taking office.

Nawrocki, a conservative and close ally of Trump, won Poland’s closely contested presidential runoff in June and took office in August.

Trump praised Nawrocki, noting that he has grown more popular since the election and is now doing “a really fantastic job.”

“I don’t endorse many people, but I endorsed him,” Trump said while seated next to Nawrocki in the Oval Office. “I was very proud of that—the job he’s done.”

In response, Nawrocki highlighted that U.S.–Poland relations are stronger than ever. He added that he and Trump share the same values, which he believed strongly resonated with the Polish American community.

Both leaders said their discussions would focus on trade, energy, and defense.

During the meeting, Trump said U.S. forces would remain stationed in Poland and indicated that Washington was ready to send additional troops if requested.

“We will help Poland protect itself,” he said, underscoring U.S. support amid the ongoing threat from Russia.

Before the meeting, four F-35s and four F-16s conducted a flyover in Washington, honoring a Polish F-16 pilot who recently died in a crash.

“Poles are happy that we have foreign soldiers in Poland. So, the American soldiers are part of our society,” Nawrocki said.

The 42-year-old president is a newcomer to politics and has promised to pursue traditional Polish values. As the candidate of Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS), he ran a campaign emphasizing Polish sovereignty and skepticism toward the European Union. He has advocated a strong U.S.–Poland alliance and said that he was inspired by Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.

Ahead of the elections, Trump threw his support behind then-candidate Nawrocki, inviting him to the White House in early May. The White House later shared two photos of them in the Oval Office via an X post. The endorsement was widely seen as giving Nawrocki a critical edge in the tight race.

“President Trump said ‘you will win,'” Nawrocki later told private broadcaster TV Republika, according to Reuters. “I read it as a kind of wish for my success in the upcoming elections, and also awareness of it, and after this whole day I can say that the American administration is aware of what is happening in Poland.”

On Aug. 6, Trump sent a U.S. delegation led by Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the Small Business Administration, to attend Nawrocki’s inauguration in Warsaw.

The Polish president, a historian and former boxer, was previously leading the Institute of National Remembrance, which investigates crimes committed by the Nazi and communist regimes.

Nawrocki supports stricter border controls and increased defense spending, while opposing the liberalization of abortion access and LGBT rights.

Poland is a strategically important partner for NATO, especially given its shared border with war-torn Ukraine.

Paul Jones, a distinguished fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said Nawrocki’s first official visit to Washington could bring important advantages for Ukraine, citing his steadfast support for the country’s defense against Russia.

“Poland is united on the threat from Russia. Nawrocki’s politics and background position him to influence Trump on Ukraine and Europe from a perspective that [UK Prime Minister] Keir Starmer, [German Chancellor] Friedrich Merz, or [French President] Emmanuel Macron cannot,” Jones, a former U.S. ambassador to Poland, wrote in a recent report.

“A nationalist historian, Nawrocki’s views on Russian imperialism and Ukraine’s independence are strident and well-founded.”

Nawrocki’s visit, Jones noted, also comes at a key time just before the United States releases its new National Defense Strategy and Force Posture Review.

Roughly 10,000 U.S. troops are currently stationed in the country, and Polish leaders are eager to keep this number steady.

Among the NATO members, Poland has the highest defense spending as a percentage of gross domestic product and also has the third largest military with its nearly 210,000 personnel.

During the meeting, Trump praised Poland’s defense contributions to NATO, saying it was one of the two countries that exceeded its commitment.

“Poland paid more than they were supposed to,” Trump said, calling that “a very nice thing.”

“By the way, since then, at my request, they’ve raised it from 2 percent to 5 percent,” he said.

Jacob Burg contributed to this report.