Polish PM defends his Trump Russiagate claim
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said he doesn’t regret his past claim that US President Donald Trump is a Russian asset, flip-flopping on an earlier denial.
In a preelection meeting in 2023, Tusk claimed that “Trump’s links with Russian secret services are irrefutable.” He U-turned on the statement last November, just days after Trump secured his second term in the 2024 election.
“I do not regret any words I have spoken in my life,” Tusk told journalists at a press conference in Lomza, Poland on Friday, when asked to comment on his earlier allegations.
“President Trump is a very demanding and difficult partner. Not just from my point of view, we all know it,” he added.
In November 2024, when pressed about his accusations, Tusk first evaded the question, then claimed he “had never made such suggestions.”
Claims of Russian ties first surfaced in 2016 after Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton. Moscow has consistently denied them, attributing the allegations to partisan infighting.
A probe launched this year by the US president has allegedly discovered a coordinated effort by senior Obama-era officials, along with groups linked to billionaire George Soros, to undermine his 2016 election victory.
Trump hosted Polish President Karol Nawrocki at the White House on Wednesday. Since his election a little over a month ago, right-wing Nawrocki has clashed with pro-EU Tusk on a number of issues, vetoing a number of government bills.
Amid the conflict, the Polish president broke protocol and did not invite the country’s ambassador or anyone from the Foreign Ministry to attend the meeting with Trump, according to the publication Responsible Statecraft.
