U.S. President Donald Trump listens to Poland’s President Andrzej Duda during their biilateral meeting on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York City, New York, U.S., September 23, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
September 23, 2019
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump told Poland’s president he expected to announce Polish entry into the U.S. visa waiver program in coming weeks as the two held talks on defense, security, energy and other issues, the White House said on Monday.
Speaking as he began a meeting with Andrzej Duda, Trump also confirmed his plans to move an unspecified number of U.S. troops to Poland from elsewhere in Europe and said the Polish government had agreed to pay for building facilities for them.
In June, Trump pledged to Duda that he would deploy 1,000 U.S. troops to Poland, a step sought by Warsaw to deter potential aggression from Russia. Duda has previously said he is considering naming the planned U.S. installation “Fort Trump.”
Poland has long sought access to the State Department’s Visa Waiver Program under which most citizens of participating countries can travel to the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without obtaining a U.S. visa.
“President Trump informed President Duda that he expects to announce Poland’s entry into the Visa Waiver Program in the coming weeks,” the White House said in a brief statement about the talks on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly.
Trump, who canceled a trip to Poland for Labor Day weekend to deal with Hurricane Dorian, said he would reschedule it “fairly soon.”
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)
