Trump meets with Orbán, Saudis, Cameron as they prepare for his return

Former President Donald Trump is holding court with world leaders as foreign governments prepare for the possibility that a second Trump administration will bring major changes to U.S. foreign policy.

President Trump spoke with Polish President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower on Wednesday, following talks in recent weeks with Hungarian President Viktor Orbán and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron. He also reportedly spoke by phone to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently.

Experts say it’s not unusual for foreign envoys to meet with presidential candidates before an election, but the meeting will raise questions about how world leaders plan to keep track of President Trump and He said it highlights what the president will do if he wins in November.

“Everyone is looking for clues about what Trump will do if he wins a second term,” said Richard Fontaine, a former State Department official and CEO of the Center for a New American Security. .

“The biggest question internationally right now is what President Trump will do if he comes back,” Fontaine said. “One of the reasons is because they have a baseline of expectations…but the other reason is that even in those four years, to say he was unpredictable would be an understatement. Sho.”

President Trump met with Hungarian dictator Orbán in early March. Orbán has praised the former president and has become an international favorite among American conservatives. After the meeting, Orbán said he and Trump were on the same page regarding the Ukraine war and that Trump would continue to cooperate. If elected, don’t give Kiev “a penny”.

The former president met with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron earlier this month, and the Ukraine war was also on the agenda. The Biden administration has worked closely with British officials to coordinate a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr. Trump spoke with Mr. Duda for two and a half hours on Wednesday night. The two leaders have friendly relations, and the Trump campaign said they discussed the war in Ukraine, the war between Israel and Hamas, and NATO spending commitments.

Poland is a NATO member state that borders Ukraine. U.S. officials have warned that if Russia seizes Ukraine, it could consider expanding into Poland and other neighboring countries, sparking a broader global war.

Mr. Duda met with President Biden at the White House in March, and Mr. Cameron met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a visit to the United States this month.

new york times It was reported in early April Trump said he also spoke with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, an influential figure in the Middle East and the de facto leader of America’s main ally in the increasingly tense region.

“Leaders around the world know that President Trump has made the world safer and more peaceful,” campaign spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement. “He is widely known as a leader who won the support of the American people, kept our country and our allies safe, kept our enemies in check, and protected American workers from unfair globalist trade policies.”

“The meetings and calls with world leaders reflect a recognition of what we already know here at home,” Hughes added. “Joe Biden is weak. The world will be safer and the United States more prosperous if President Trump becomes the 47th president of the United States.”

Fontaine said it was “perfectly normal” for foreign heads of state to meet with U.S. presidential candidates, and while foreign officials tend to remain neutral in foreign elections, the Hungarian leader He added that Orbán’s meeting was perhaps the only anomaly because he openly supports President Trump.

U.S. officials often meet with representatives of various political parties. For example, White House officials have met in recent weeks with Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, political opponents of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The White House has declined to discuss President Trump’s meetings with other foreign leaders.

Opinion polls show Trump and Biden are in a close race for the White House, leading in most battleground states expected to be decided in November, including Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan and Nevada. The president has a narrow lead. Biden is doing better in polls in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Biden began his campaign in 2020 in part to restore U.S. leadership on the world stage after four years of President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy upended traditional alliances. conducted an election campaign. Trump has imposed tariffs on the European Union, criticized NATO allies for not spending enough on defense and made soft remarks about dictators like North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Did.

A second term for Mr. Trump could transform U.S. foreign policy at a time of global instability.

Mr. Biden has made U.S. support for Ukraine a central pillar of his foreign policy and boasted of the United States’ role in uniting the world against Russian aggression, but Mr. Trump has said that supporting Kiev is not a vital U.S. interest. , has questioned why Europe isn’t spending more to help Ukraine. provide funds for the war effort.

Biden praised the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance, calling its mutual defense clause “sacred” and Trump telling allies they must contribute enough to defense spending or let Russia do whatever it wants. He told the story of what he said and harshly criticized Mr. Trump.

And as Biden seeks to balance U.S. military aid to Israel with public and private calls for Israeli leaders to do more to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip, Trump He has offered little substance on how he would address the Middle East conflict beyond the crackdown on the Gaza Strip. Iran.

Biden this week sponsored a series of House bills that would provide billions of dollars in aid to Indo-Pacific allies including Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. President Trump has not formally considered the bill.

“I will sign this immediately and send a message to the world: We stand with our friends and will not allow Iran or Russia to succeed,” Biden said in a statement.