Former US President Donald Trump will meet Polish President Andrzej Duda for dinner in New York on Wednesday, according to those close to him. The expected Republican candidate for the presidential election in November will receive Duda at Trump Tower in Manhattan, the AFP news agency learned from Trump's campaign team. On Wednesday, the accused real estate tycoon Trump got a break in the hush money trial that opened on Monday.
Trump is accused in the criminal case in New York of forging business documents to cover up a hush money payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. The 77-year-old has pleaded not guilty.
When Trump wasn't busy with his numerous justice problems recently, he conducted a kind of shadow diplomacy: The ex-president met with leading politicians and attacked the foreign policy of the Democratic incumbent Joe Biden.
Last week he discussed NATO affairs and the war in Ukraine with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron. Last month, he received Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at his Mar-a-Lago residence in the US state of Florida.
The conservative Duda was a close ally of the then-president during Trump's time in office. The Polish leader even suggested building a “Fort Trump” military base on Polish soil. Facing Trump's false claims about his 2020 election defeat, Duda waited more than a month to congratulate Biden on his victory.