Poland’s New President Karol Nawrocki Visits White House After Trump Endorsement

Poland’s newly inaugurated president, Karol Nawrocki, is making his first overseas trip to Washington on Wednesday to meet with President Donald Trump and press for a continued strong U.S. military presence in Poland.

Nawrocki, a former amateur boxer and historian who ran as the candidate of the nationalist Law and Justice party, took office last month and said he would use the White House visit to deepen ties with Washington. The meeting follows an unusual public endorsement of Nawrocki by Trump during Poland’s election campaign.

The White House visit occurs at a fraught moment for Warsaw as tensions persist on Europe’s eastern flank. Nawrocki is expected to make the case that a robust U.S. military footprint in Poland is necessary for regional deterrence and stability. Poland has been a key U.S. ally in NATO and has hosted American forces as part of broader security arrangements in Europe.

Trump’s public involvement in the Polish election and his endorsement of Nawrocki drew attention because it is rare for a U.S. president to openly back a candidate in a long-standing ally’s domestic vote. The endorsement and the prompt invitation to Washington signal an early alignment between the two leaders.

U.S. efforts to broker talks between Russia and Ukraine have also shaped the context for the meeting. Trump has in recent weeks pursued direct diplomacy aimed at arranging talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He met with Putin in Alaska and later hosted Zelenskyy and several European leaders at the White House, expressing confidence that those engagements could lead to direct talks between the two leaders. Trump has since conveyed frustration at his inability to secure a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, a dynamic that has raised questions about the prospects for near-term de-escalation in the region.

Poland’s security concerns have been heightened by the broader conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the shifting diplomatic landscape. Nawrocki’s visit is expected to touch on bilateral defence cooperation, regional security, and the mechanics of maintaining U.S. forces and deterrent capabilities on Polish soil.

Poland’s Law and Justice party, which backed Nawrocki’s candidacy, has long advocated a strong transatlantic security partnership and close cooperation with Washington. Nawrocki’s background as a historian and his party’s nationalist orientation may shape the tone of discussions in Washington, where U.S. officials will weigh Warsaw’s requests alongside broader allied strategies for European security.

The White House did not immediately release a detailed public agenda for the meeting, but the visit underscores the continued centrality of Poland in discussions about NATO’s posture in Eastern Europe and the United States’ role in regional security amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to address the Russia-Ukraine conflict.