Trump's visit to Poland follows a strategic buttering-up

(Image credit: Olivier Douliery-Pool via Getty Images)

last updated 5 July 2017

Polish lawmakers are sending literal busloads of constituents to Warsaw ahead of President Trump's visit, evidently following through with their foreign minister's promise to Trump in May that the country would be "friendly" if he ever decided to stop by, The Wall Street Journal reports.

In lobbying for Mr. Trump's visit in recent months, Polish officials made a promise of a positive reception for the president part of their pitch. Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said in an interview Wednesday with The Wall Street Journal that he told Mr. Trump, on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Brussels in May: "Please visit us, your soldiers are already here, you can follow, and you can visit a country which is friendly."Mr. Trump responded, according to Mr. Waszczykowski, that "Polish Americans helped him win" the presidential election."I said, 'Well, we can help you once again ... if you visit us and cooperate with us,'" Mr. Waszczykowski recalled. [The Wall Street Journal]

Not everyone is convinced, with newspaper editor Bartosz Wielinski slamming the government's fanfare as a "partisan spectacle" and a "Potemkin Village." Still others are suspicious of intentions all around as the nationalist, anti-immigrant Polish government appears eager to drive a wedge between the U.S. and the European Union faithful, such as Germany.

"There's this new success — Trump's visit," declared the chairman of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, boasting that European officials are "envious of it!"

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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