Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2020

June 24, 2020

President Trump. Well, thank you very much, everyone. Please. Thank you. Beautiful day in the Rose Garden. And I want to thank everybody for being here with us. We all know what a wonderful country and a great country Poland is.

And it's my honor to have a friend of mine here, President Duda of Poland, who has done an incredible job. And I do believe he has an election coming up, and I do believe he'll be very successful. So thank you very much and all of your representatives. Thank you very much for being here.

This is the third time that we've hosted President Duda. The First Lady and I also cherish our remarkable visit to Poland 3 years ago. That was an amazing event. We had an event, because it was a speech, and a lot of people watched that speech. But it was a very historic moment and an important moment for our two countries.

The American and Polish people enjoy one of the world's oldest, strongest, and most enduring friendships. Polish patriots battled by our side to secure American independence. American and Polish warriors fought and died together to defeat the Nazis in World War Two. The United States stood shoulder to shoulder with Poland in its courageous struggle against communist oppression. Our bond has been forged in battle, sealed in blood, and strengthened by our shared cultural values.

The United States and Poland are united by our firm conviction that Western civilization has advanced, reallyâand very much advanced, I think I have to addâthe cause of human progress beyond measure, and that it must be strongly defended and will, at all times, be strongly defended. And we will defend it together.

In our meeting today, President Duda and I reaffirmed the vital alliance between our nations.

Last year, we signed two joint declarations to increase our security collaboration, and we look forward to signing a defense cooperation agreement.

Poland recently purchased 32 brandnew state-of-the-art Fâ35 fighter jetsâthe best in the worldâand Poland is one of only 8 NATO membersâthe others, some of them, haven't done so well in terms of what they're supposed to be paying to NATO. I tell them all the time. And we've gotten them up a lot, but not enough. But Poland is one of only 8 that is current with the money that they are supposed to be paying. That's the 2 percent. Two percent is a very low number.

But we have a large number of countries that haven't paid. They're delinquent. Let's put it that way. They're delinquent with respect to their dues, the money they're supposed to be paying for defense. So the United States is defending a lot of countries that are delinquent on what they're supposed to be paying, and I never feel too good about that.

But I will say I spoke with the Secretary General, and he said we've done a great job. But I said we haven't done good enough. We haven't done a good enough job.

We have secured, though, over $400 billion in new pledged defense spending from NATO members, which is something that no other administration has come even close to. I would say they're off by many, many hundreds of billions of dollars, something the newspaper doesn't like writing about, that the media doesn't like talking about. But we will be only satisfied when all members pay their fair share. Again, only eight members, plus the United States, is paying what is considered a fair share.

I also applaud Poland and the Polish people for its devotion to safeguarding their country's borders. Very strong borders. And I just left our border, by the way. The wall is moving along rapidly, and our border is about as strong as it's ever beenâour southern border.

Last year, we were able to add Poland to the visa waiver program. And they wanted that very badly, and we gave it to them because they really deserve it. It's a testament to Poland's vigilant efforts to uphold the rule of law.

The United States and Poland have recently signed several long-term contracts for U.S. liquefied natural gasâthey're a big purchaser of our energyâto enhance Poland's energy security. And we're working to conclude an agreement that would facilitatesâfacilitate Poland's development of nuclear energy plants throughout the purchaseâthey're going to be purchasing with one of our big, very good companies, technology, to do civilian nuclear energy.

I want to congratulate Poland for its leadership in the Three Seas Initiative, a crucial energy partnership that will provide a reliable source of energy for Eastern Europe. And it will be free from the threat of foreign extortion. Poland understands foreign extortion very well. The Three Seas Initiative relies on fairness, transparency, and mutual benefit.

Our nations have also collaborated on protecting our critical infrastructure and technology.

That's why we've signed a 5G Joint Declaration, and Poland is leading the way in Europe by using trusted providers and provider equipment and supply chains for its 5G network. And we're working along with them, and they're using our companies.

The United States and Poland cooperate across a truly wide range of fronts that we're both very much involved in. Here today is the head of a Polish medical teamâvery advanced team, very brilliant teamâfighting the coronavirus alongside of American doctors: Captain Siewiera. Captainâthank you for being here, Captain.

And we're making great progress. I hear we're making great progress and we're working together. But we are making great progress on therapeutics and vaccines. Thank you very much. Appreciate you being here.

The American and Polish people have been true friends and trusted partners for almost 250 years. We are forever united by our shared belief in family, faith, law, liberty, democracy, and justice. As the old Polish motto goes, we will stand together in the name of God "for our freedom and for yours."

President Duda, let me express once again our gratitude for your visit and friendship. We have had a very, very special relationship. Our alliance is powerful and a very powerful testament to what free people can achieve together. And I believe that the greatness of our relationship lies ahead.

Thank you very much. President, please. Thank you.

President Duda. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Ladies and gentlemen, first and foremost, I would like to thank very warmlyâI would like to thank very warmly to President Donald Trump, to the President of the United States of America. Thank you very much for inviting me here to Washington, to the White House, to take part in this very important meeting to us.

This meeting is important for many reasons. To me, as President of the Republic of Poland, this meeting is important because Poland is the first country after the coronavirus pandemic which has been invited to the meeting in the White House to discuss the most important matters concerning the future, concerning how the relations will look between the United States and Poland, in terms of economy, what those relations will be like in the military sphere, and what

those relations will be like in the sphere of health protectionâall those elements which are of key importance today.

A very big part of our discussions today with Mr. President and our collaborators were dedicated to the coronavirus, to what the situation looks like in Europe and on the global stage, as concerns the fight against the coronavirus also in the United States. But, first and foremost, we're also thinking about what measures to take in the future.

But, first and foremost, thank you so much, Mr. President, for your declaration that we are going to cooperate; that also our scientists are going to cooperate and collaborate on conducting research concerning the vaccine and therapy drug against coronavirusâeverything that will be conducive to fighting the coronavirus.

So I do believe that thanks to this collaboration, those therapeutical medicines will be available also for Polesâfor my compatriotsâas soon as possible. Thank you so much, President, for that because all of us know very well how high level of medical research is in the United States.

And this declaration and the will of cooperation on part of the United States, on part of the President of the United States is of crucial importance to us. So thank you very much for that.

But, ladies and gentlemen, we also discussed the cooperation in the sphere of economy and military. Let me first mention our economic cooperation. As the President has just mentioned, we're developing it, both in the sphere of energyâin building energy security. Today we can say that the United States is cooperating in the sphere of creating energy securityânot only the energy security of Poland, but also the energy security of Central Europe.

The President has just mentioned the Three Seas Initiative. Yes, all the investments that are being carried out in Poland todayâthe extension of the capacity of LNG terminal in ÅwinoujÅcie, we're increasing its capacity by 2.5 billion cubic meters. We also plan to construct another LNG terminal in the Port of GdaÅsk. All of that is conducive to being able to receive LNG gas and provide its deliveries not only across Poland, but also for the countries of Central Europe.

The vast majority of those countries of Central Europe are still dependent on Russia and creating a true alternative. In other words, diversification of supplies is of key importance for their security.

Thank you, Mr. President, for this cooperation. I do believe that we're going to further develop it. Today we have got those supplies guaranteed until 2023âby the end of 2023. But I know that we are also going to enter into further contracts in this respectâeven more so that, for sure, our demand is going to increase.

But, ladies and gentlemen, we also discussed conventional energy and nuclear energy cooperation. In the nearest future, an agreement will be signed between the governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Poland. And thanks to this agreement, we'll be able to start designing the large design of introducing conventional nuclear energy for the production of electricity in Poland.

The entities which will participate in this project have already been selected, and the agreements are very advanced on the Polish side. We have got Minister Piotr Naimski, who's in charge of those negotiations right now. An appropriate intergovernmental agreement is about to be concludedâfinalized. We can expect that to happen in the near future.

But, ladies and gentlemen, I also want to mention the contribution of the United States into the Three Seas Initiative and, first and foremost, the financial contribution to the fund of the Three Seas Initiative. Mr. President got interested in that fund some time ago. This is an element, a vehicle, which enables the development of this cooperation.

Thank you, Mr. President, for your activity. And thank you for appreciating this cooperation which takes place in Central Europe within the framework of the European Union. And the goal of this cooperation is to develop, to extend the infrastructure. Thank you for noticing the possibility of developing cooperation in the transatlantic zone between the countries of the European Union and the United States.

And of course, from my point of view, this cooperation with Poland is extremely important to me, but also, in the economic sphere, we are speaking about increasing military cooperation between Poland and the United States. It is also of primary importance. I have no doubts whatsoever that this cooperation will lead to the strengthening of security of the European Union; strengthening the security of the eastern flank of NATO; but alsoâand perhaps first and foremost, from my perspectiveâit will strengthen the security of Poland, and it will also lend additional financial credibility to Polandâinvestment credibility on part of American investors.

One month ago, a global company, Microsoft, announced that they're going to invest $1 billion in Poland to establish a state-of-the-art data center. And today, officially, Google company published the information that it is also going to invest in the center of modern technologies in Poland, including IT technologies. This is going to be an even greater investment than investment of Microsoft.

So, Mr. President, I have no doubts whatsoever that these American investments and this additional investment impulse that the American companies are making right now results from a very efficient policy that we are conducting together and which increases the sense of safety of our citizens in Poland, and it also increases the sense of safe investments in our country.

Thank you so much for that, because that means the creation of new jobs in the state-of-the- art branch of industry IT technologies. And I'm really pleased because, in Poland, we have got a large number of excellent young IT experts, also young IT engineers. And for sure, we're able to come to terms with these very serious challenges.

Also, as far as the intellectual capital is concerned, I'm sure that these investments are going to be beneficial for the United States, for the U.S. companies, and also for Poland, through creating jobs, through acquiring new experiences by young people in the first placeâby young engineers.

I'm also glad, Mr. President, because as we said before, the agreements that we entered into, concerning increased U.S. military presence in Poland; the agreements we signed last year, according to, first, when the U.S. forces are going to be increased by 1,000 troops in our country; and another contractâanother agreement stipulated concrete locations in which U.S. soldiers will be stationed in Poland on the rotational basis, but also it's going to be a heel-to-toe rotation.

Today, we are entering another stage. Namely, there is a possibility of further increase in American troops in our country.

In recent days, I also talked to Secretary General of NATO. I talked to Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, and we agreed on one point: Especially as Europeans, we have no doubts whatsoever that if any part of the U.S. Armed Forces, which is the biggest armed forces in the world, was withdrawn from Europe, that would be very detrimental to European security. So, in our belief, it is deeply justified to ensure that the U.S. troops are left in Europe.

So, Mr. President, thank you so much for this meeting today. Thank you so much for accepting Poland during this meeting at the White House. So we are the first country which has been received after this long break in international diplomacy. Thank you for your words about our pride and heroism of Poles, of our history.

Today, Polish soldiers stand arm-in-arm with U.S. soldiers. We are tested allies. Together, we spilled blood in Iraq and Afghanistan. And we stand readyâalways ready to implement our allied obligations and commitments.

And thank you that the United States, thanks to your policy, Mr. President, is demonstrating itself as an absolutely loyal ally to us. And thank you that we can count on the United States.

Also, I'd like to say that I'm grateful, Mr. President, that you have been stressing historical truths in such a decisive way. This is extremely important to us Poles. Fighting disinformation, defending historical truth also about the Second World Warâabout who started the war, about the course of the warâis incredibly important to us. And thank you, Mr. President, that you are adopting this stance and contributing so much to putting the record straight.

It's important also to us, from the point of view of our dignity, the Second World War was a period of great drama and trauma in the periodâin the history of our nation. We lost 5 million citizens, and that was a tragedy to us.

So, because of that, it is important to spread this truth, to present it as it really was. But it's also important to speak about the heroism of Poles wherever they were fighting, wherever they were spilling their blood arm-in-arm with their allies at Monte Cassino, at Tobruk, and at other places all over the world, both on the Eastern Front and on the Western Front.

All of thatâsaying that is extremely important. So I'm happy that today we can anchor our security in the United States. I'm glad that we have got this excellent economic cooperation.

So, Mr. President, I have no doubt whatsoever that the coronavirus pandemic will pass and we will be going together towards the development of our countries, towards the development of our societies, towards the building of a better, more prosperous future, both for the United States, for Poland, and for Europe. Thank you so much.

President Trump. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. President. So we'll take a couple of questions, and you'll ask one to me and one to the President, and that would be great.

Steve Holland [Reuters], go ahead.

U.S. Troop Deployments to Poland and Germany/North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Q. Thank you, sir. Just, could you talk a little bit more about this issue of sending U.S. troops to Poland? Would you send them from Germany? And what sort of signal would that send to Russia?

And for President Duda: How do you feel about this, taking some troops out of Germany to go to Poland? And what signal does that send to Russia? Thank you.

President Trump. Well, just to start: As you know, Poland isâas I've said many times, Poland is one of the few countries that are fulfilling their obligations under NATO, in particular, their monetary obligations. And they asked us if we would send some additional troops. They're going to pay for that. They'll be paying for the sending of additional troops. And we'll probably be moving them from Germany to Poland.

We're going to be reducing Germany very substantially down to about 25,000 troops. We actually had 52,000, but we'll be moving it down to about 25,000. Germany is paying a very small fraction of what they're supposed to be paying. They should be paying 2 percent, and they're paying a little bit more than 1 percent, depending on how you calculate. You could also calculate they're payingâthat they're paying less than 1 percent. But if you assume they're paying 1 percent, that's a tremendous delinquency. Let's use that word: "delinquency."

So we're going to be reducing our forces in Germany. Some will be coming home, and some will be going to other places. But Poland would be one of those other placesâother places in Europe.

Russia-Germany Nord Stream II Natural Gas Pipeline/North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Q. Are you worried about the signal that it would send to Russia by doing this?

President Trump. I think it sends a very strong signal to Russia. But I think a stronger signal sent to Russia is the fact that Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars to purchase energy from Russia, andâthrough the pipeline. And I'm saying, "What's that all about? You're spending billions of dollars to Russia, then we're supposed to defend you from Russia."

So I think it's a very badâI think the people of Germany are very unhappy about it. I have many friends from Germany, and the people in Germany are very unhappy about it. They don't like it, but that's what they chose to do. So they're spending billions of dollars to buy Russian energy, and then we're supposed to defend them from Russia. So that doesn't work too well.

But Poland has been very, very terrific. In fact, I don't believe Poland is actually accepting any of the energy from the pipeline from Russia. So that sends a signal right there.

With all of that being said, we expect to get along with Russia; we expect to get along with everybody. But Germany hasâthey really owe a lot of money in NATO, and this has been going on for many years. When you add it all up, you're probably getting close to a trillion dollars. And that's not treating NATO fairly, but it really isn't treating the United States fairly.

You know, the United States is a veryâis the major participant in NATO. We pay more than anybody else, by far; have for many, many years. So we defend Europe, but Europe also takes tremendous advantage of the United States on trade, advantage like you wouldn't believe. So we're trying to work that out.

And I would imagine they'd like to wait until after the election so that maybe they could deal with somebody other than President Trump. But after the election, they'll just have to pay more, but that's the way it is. Okay?

Thank you very much. Please.

President Duda. Sir, first of all, I do respect very much both Mr. President, Donald Trump, and the United States of Americaâa wonderful, great state which today is the largest military and economic superpower in the world.

And I wouldn't dare say to the President of the United States of America where he should send his soldiers, because this is the decision which is always taken by the United States. This is a very responsible decision.

However, I do not deny that I requested Mr. President that he would not withdraw U.S. forces from Europe, because the security of Europe is very important to me, from Europe as such. I'm talking about the united Europe for which the American presence, since the end of the Second World War, is a huge security guarantee.

However, if I'm asked by anybody if I am ready that Poland receives more U.S. troops in our country, of course, I am ready. In 2014, Russia attacked Ukraine. It annexed Crimea. It occupies Luhansk and Donetsk. Before that, it had attacked Georgia. 2014 was a year of huge fearsâhuge fears in the Baltic States and very big ones, very considerable ones among the Polish society.

Today, the presence of NATO troops and, first and foremost, of U.S. troops in Poland demonstrates that article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is treated seriously. And it shows that if

anyone wanted to attack Poland, it won't be a soft landing for that entity; that it won't pay off for such an aggressor, because the strongest army of the world is present and they would help Polish soldiers to defend our borders if such a case arises.

One hundred years ago, we repelled Russians from Warsaw. In a great battle in 1920, we defeated the Soviet Army Bolsheviks, and we drove them back to the east. That was a great victory, but we managed to stop them only very near to Warsaw, at the outskirts of our capital city. We would never want to see that situation repeated again. That is why the Allied presence is crucially important to us today and it is a very important security guarantee to us.

So I'm very pleased that both within NATO, as well as in the United States, and today, that President of the United States understands the history of Europe and he understands the realities in Europe, and that he also understands the situation as it is developing in Europe.

So today, this generates peace to my country; it brings security. And thanks to that, Russianâunfortunately, the very strong imperial ambitions which have been revived over the last tens of years, I can say, because Georgia was attacked in 2008âthanks to this, those ambitions have been stopped for the time being, at least in this part of the world. And I have no doubt whatsoever that this is also a huge merit of the policy of the United States. I'm grateful for that, just like all my compatriots are.

President Trump. Thank you very much. I just want to add: 2014, which the President was talking about, that was a year where Russia had a good time with the United States. To the best of my knowledge, President Obama and Sleepy Joe Biden, they were in power. They were the ones that were doing it. This was before us. It hasn't happened with us, and it won't happen with us either.

Please, go ahead.

Poland-U.S. Relations/Coronavirus Vaccine and Treatment Development

Q. [Inaudible]âTVN Discovery. Mr. President, you had to cancel your last trip, your last visit to Poland, because of the hurricane. Are you planning a new visit to Poland in the near future?

And the second question is on COVID. Is there a chance for Poland to participate in the development and early access, both to the vaccine and to the therapeutics?

[*At this point, the reporter spoke in Polish, and his remarks were translated by an interpreter as follows.*]

Mr. President, is there a chance that during this cooperation with the United States we'll get fast access both to the vaccine as well as to concrete drugs against coronavirus?

Thank you very much.

President Trump. Yes, the answer is "yes" to going, and we'd like to do it again, as soon as we can. We have an election happening in this country, as you probably have heard. And so, I probably won't be able to do it until after the election. But assuming things go well, the answer is a very definite "yes," actually.

As far as the joining with us on the vaccines and therapeutics, by the way, because the therapeutics to meâif I gave you a choice right now, probably, therapeutically, maybe I'd like that even better. But we're working very well on both. I think we're coming up with some great answers. I think you're going to have a big surpriseâa beautiful surprise, sooner than anybody would think.

But the answer is "yes." We will be getting Poland involved, both in terms of helping, but also in terms of taking care of the Polish people once we have the vaccine. But I think we're going to have it very soon. Okay? Thank you.

President Duda. Sir, we got involved, as a state, in the cooperation and also in supporting allies, be it in a symbolic dimension of the United States in the fight against coronavirus. That is why we have here with us today a captainâmedical doctor from Poland.

I want to say, "Yes, of course, I'm working on this." Obvious assumption that by taking part in the research and also by being, in a certain sense, cocreators of the vaccines and therapeutics, Poles will be able to count on these vaccines and therapeutics to be available for Poles as soon as possible.

So, speaking openly, this is also the intention I have in my cooperation with the United States of America, to make sure that these vaccines are available to Poles and to other Nations, wherever they will be applied, as soon as possible.

President Trump. Okay. Thank you very much. John [John Roberts, Fox News], please.

Police Reform Legislation/Executive Action Regarding Monuments, Memorials, and Statues

Q. Thank you, Mr. President. This afternoon the bill on reform in the Senate failed to move forward. It may still see the light of day at some point, but at the moment, it stalled in the Senate. As well, you have an Executive order that is coming out later on this week regardingââ

President Trump. Right.

Q. ââmonuments and what to do about people who deface or damage these monuments. Could you tell us what you're planning to do in the Executive order and your reaction to what happened in the Senate?

President Trump. Well, the Senate Republicans want very much to pass a bill on police reform. We have total cooperation with many different communities, including the police community. They want it very much to happen themselves, because there are things that they agreed to that they would like to agree to, and they would love to have it agreed to formally.

The Democrats don't want to do it, because they want to weaken our police. They want to take away immunity. They want to do other things that you know about as well as anybody in this beautiful field that we sit. They want to take away a lot of the strength from our police and from law enforcement, generally, and we can't live with that. We can't live with that.

This is a great bill, strongly endorsed by, as you know, Tim Scott, who's terrific, who is a terrific man, great SenatorâSouth Carolina. And Mitch wants it to happen. I would like to see it happen. But we won't sacrifice. We won't do that. We won't do anything that's going to hurt our police.

The policeâyou know, we have a record this year on crimeâa record positive rating on crime this year, the best. And you hear about certain places like Chicago, and you hear about what's going on in Detroit and other cities, all Democrat run. Every one of them is Democrat run. Twenty out of 20. The 20 worst, the 20 most dangerous are Democrat run. We have one city or two cities in particularâworse than Honduras, worse than Afghanistan. Worse than Afghanistan.

And these are cities within the United States, Democrat run, radical-left run. You see what's going on in Seattle. You see what's going on in other places. Seattle, of all placesâwho would even think that's possible? Twenty out of 20.

The Democrats want to weaken very substantially our law enforcement and our police. And, frankly, they want to defund, largelyâat least largely. There are some that want to defund and abolish our police, if you can believe that, and we're not letting that happen.

So if nothing happens with it, it's one of those thingsâwe have different philosophies. They want open borders. They want sanctuary cities. We don't.

As far as your numberâyour second question, I think that we're going to have a very strong Executive order, but we already have very strong. We have the monuments act already, whichâ which means 10 years in jail. But I think we're going to consolidate various things. We're going to come out with a very strong Executive order, and I should have that by the end of the week, which is fast approaching. We're going to have it veryâa very powerful statement.

We've arrested numerous people, as you know, for what took place outside of Washington. In addition, the FBI is investigating hundreds of people throughout the country for what they've done to monuments, statues, and even buildings.

So we have very strong laws already in the books, and we have a law that's 10 years. It's 10 years. That's a long time to have fun 1 night. I think many of the people that are knocking down these statues don't even have any idea what the statue is, what it means, who it is, when they knock down Grantâwhen they want to knock down Grant. But when they look at certainânow they're looking at Jesus Christ. They're looking at George Washington. They're looking at Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson. Not going to happen. Not going to happen. Not as long as I'm here.

As far as Democrats are concerned, I think they could care less whether or not it happens.

And I think the American people get it. So we're going to have a very strong Executive order, and it'll happen very quickly, before the end of the week.

Poland-U.S. Relations

Q. And to President Duda: President Duda, we have an election coming up in November; you have an election coming up on Sunday. Some of your critics, who are politicians here in the United States, have criticized this visit to the White House, saying it is tantamount to election interference because it shows a very close relationship between the United States and Poland at a time when you really need it. What do you say to those critics? And, Mr. President, feel free to weigh in if you want to.

President Duda. Sir, first of all, let meâlet me also follow up on that question that you asked to President Donald Trump.

I would like to thank you, Mr. President, because among others, not a long time ago, the monument to General Tadeusz KoÅciuszko was devastated. That was the national hero of Poland, but also the national hero of the United States. He was fighting for the independence of the United States. He had great merits and he was also the commander of a Polish uprising where he was fighting for the independence of Poland. He suffered heavy wounds in Poland, fighting for the independence of our country. And for completely incomprehensible reasons to us, that monument was devastated recently.

And thank you so much that it has been renewed so fast and that made it possible for me to lay flowers at that monument and pay tribute to the great soldier and a great commander. Thank you for that. That was outrageous for a big number of Polish people back in Polandâall of them probablyâand for many, many Polish people living here also in the United States. Polish organizations here in the United States asked me and told me that they would renew that monument.

I know that it has already been renewed by the United States. No assistance was needed, so I'm very grateful for that, here, that monument of Tadeusz KoÅciuszko stands near the White House and he looks as he should look, which he has deserved for the merits he laid for the United States and for Poland. So thank you very much for that, Mr. President.

And answering to your question: Two months ago, at the very beginning of the pandemic of coronavirus, we had a lengthy conversation with President Donald Trump. The pandemic disrupted the plans of our cooperation, which we had. And back then, we made an arrangement with Mr. President that we would meet as soon as it would be possible, and this has been implemented. And the fact that this arrangement has been put into force is demonstrated by the visit today.

I'm very grateful to Mr. President for inviting me here today. And together with Mr.

President, we are implementing our Presidential duties. The President is always in charge of his national interests, and this is the task of the President.

When the President is acting in the international sphereâand this is my sense, but I also know that also it is a very strong belief of President Donald Trumpâthe President is supposed to realize the interest of their country. So, Mr. President Trump is realizing the interests of his own country, and I'm realizing the interests of Poland.

So we're looking for a win-win situation, where both parties are the winners, where both parties are able to implement their interests as part of the cooperation which we're implementing. This is the way we act.

And in this very moment, we are acting on a national level, on the state level. We are just fulfilling our obligations and duties as presidents of our countries, as those who are representing our nations and who want our societies to have as good lives as possible.

Thank you very much.

President Trump. I can say that President Duda is doing very well in Poland. He's doing a terrific job. The people of Poland think the world of him and, by the way, Mrs. Duda, who is a terrific woman, a terrific woman who we've gotten to know also through our various travels and meetings. But they think the world of him, and I don't think he needs my help.

I'm honored that this is a day that's, I guess, just before your election. I'm honored. But he will do very well with or without us. He's going to have a great success, and Poland is going to continue on. They're doing incredibly well as a country.

Okay, please.

[*President Duda spoke briefly in English to President Trump as follows.*] *President Duda. *Thank you very much, Mr. President.

President Trump. Thank you.

President Duda. Best regards to Madam Melania, to your wife.

President Trump. Thank you.

President Duda. [Inaudible]âPolish Television.

Russia-U.S. Relations/Arms Control/Poland-U.S. Relations

Q. Good morning. [Inaudible]âPolish Television. I want to ask about timing of the visit. President Andrzej Duda is the first President, the first international guest in the White House since the lockdown. And today, there was a big military parade in Moscow. Can we combine

those two facts? Is it, kind of, proof that Americaâthat Poland is an important partner for America? Can we treat it that we can rely on America in Poland? Thank you.

President Trump. Well, I think you can, and we also are working with Russia right now on an arms treaty, which is a very big thingânuclear arms, specifically.

But we're working very much, and we'reâI think I can say, Mike, we're doing very well on that. We're two countries that want to see it happen. And we're working on other things with Russia. We have a very good relationship. We have our Ambassador over there right now, who'll be attending certain festivities, and that's a good thing. And I think that's, frankly, a good thing for Poland also.

Likewise, we're going to be having very important dignitaries at your parade. You're going to be having a very big event soon, and we're going to beâI guess, in Augustâand we're going to have people representing the United States at a very high level. And that's very important to us also.

Okay? Please.

President Duda. Sir, I have this feeling and sense that I'm conducting negotiations in Polish matters here, in very experienced and very tough politicianâa tough player, I can sayâthat is President Trump, who is standing strongly and looking to the interests of his country and his citizens.

What I'm doing here is I'm representing Polish interests here, and I'm not parading in Moscow. That is all. Thank you very much.

President Trump. Thank you all very much. We will see you soon. Thank you. Thank you very much.

NOTE: The President spoke at 3:47 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Capt. Jacek Siewiera of the Polish Military Medical Corps.; Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo; Sen. Timothy E. Scott; Senate Majority Leader A. Mitchell McConnell; Agata Kornhauser-Duda, wife of President Duda; and U.S. Ambassador to Russia John J. Sullivan. President Duda referred to Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Piotr Naimski of Poland. President Duda spoke in Polish, and his remarks were translated by an interpreter.

Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Joint news conferences :: Poland, President Duda. Locations: Washington, DC.

Names: Biden, Joseph R., Jr.; Duda, Andrzej; Kornhauser-Duda, Agata; McConnell, A. Mitchell; Obama, Barack; Pence, Michael R.; Scott, Timothy E.; Siewiera, Jack; Stoltenberg, Jens; Sullivan, John J.; Trump, Melania.

Subjects: Armed Forces, U.S. : Servicemembers :: Deployment; Communications : Broadband and wireless technologies; Communications : News media :: Presidential interviews; Congress : Senate :: Majority leader; Diseases : Coronavirus, domestic prevention efforts; Elections : 2020 Presidential and congressional elections; Energy : Domestic production, promotion efforts; Germany : Defense relationship with U.S.; Germany : Energy cooperation with Russia; Health and medical care : Experimental drugs and therapies; Immigration and naturalization : Visa policy, U.S.; Law enforcement and crime : 2020 crime rate; Law enforcement and crime : Monuments, memorials, and statues, vandalism and defacement; Law enforcement and crime : Policing best practices, improvement efforts; Law enforcement and crime : State and community

law enforcement agencies, Federal support; Mexico : Border with U.S., infrastructure and security; Monuments, memorials, and statutes, status of public display; North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Poland : Defense relationship with U.S.; Poland : Energy cooperation with U.S.; Poland : President; Poland : Relations with U.S.; Poland : Trade with U.S.; Poland : U.S. visa policy; Russia : Energy cooperation with Germany; Russia : Nuclear weapons stockpile, reduction; Russia : Relations with U.S.; Russia : U.S. Ambassador; Russia : Ukraine, role; Three Seas Initiative; Ukraine : Relations with Russia; Washington : Civil unrest and violence in Seattle; White House Office : Vice President.

DCPD Number: DCPD202000470.