Polish right-wing presidential candidate visits Trump
WARSAW: Poland's nationalist presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki said on Friday he had an 'important' visit with US President Donald Trump at the White House, drawing accusations of election interference from some governing politicians.
Nawrocki has the backing of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) and outgoing President Andrzej Duda and is polling second two weeks ahead of the May 18 ballot.
The frontrunner, pro-European Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, has the support of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition (KO).
'An immensely important meeting... with US President D. Trump at the White House and joint talks on the strategic alliance as well as future cooperation,' Nawrocki wrote on his Facebook page.
He added a campaign hashtag and photos of the two men posing at the White House during the Thursday visit.
The White House also posted the photos to X and said: 'President Donald J. Trump welcomes Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki to the Oval Office.'
Nawrocki separately told TV Republika that 'President Trump said, 'You will win'... I understood that as him wishing me success in the upcoming elections.'
Some lawmakers from the governing coalition took to X on Friday to criticize the meeting.
MP Roman Giertych accused Trump of being Russian President Vladimir Putin's 'friend' and of 'brazenly interfering in the elections in Poland.'
Fellow lawmaker Tomasz Trela wrote: 'Mr Nawrocki, Trump will not be choosing our president for us, just like he didn't choose Canada's prime minister.'
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals won Canada's election on Monday after a campaign defined by threats from Trump.
Nawrocki, a 42-year-old historian, has been campaigning on the slogan of 'Poland first, Poles first.'
While Nawrocki does not question Poland's support for neighboring Ukraine against Russia's invasion, he has denounced the generous benefits accorded to Ukrainians refugees.
He also wants Poland to boost its troop numbers and has called for controls on the border with Germany to keep out migrants.
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