Trump issues full-throated attack on radical Islamic terrorism AND government bureaucracy
- President Donald Trump questioned if the West has the 'will to survive' in a landmark speech in Warsaw on Thursday afternoon
- He said North Korea would face 'consequences' and admitted Russia 'could have' interfered with the election
President Donald Trump browbeat Russia on Thursday for its 'destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes including Syria and Iran' and urged Vladimir Putin's government to join the US and its allies in the fight against violent extremism.
Trump had refused earlier in the day to pin election hacking last year in the US on the Kremlin, saying he thinks it was Putin's government, but it 'could have been other people in other countries.'
And he did not mention Russia by name in his remarks to the Polish people when he promised they would 'never again held hostage to a single supplier of energy.'
But turning to threats against the West later in his speech in Warsaw's historic Krasinski Square, Trump railed against 'radical Islamic terrorism' and 'powers that seek to test our will, undermine our confidence and challenge our interests.'
'To meet new forms of aggression, including propaganda, financial crimes and cyber warfare, we must adapt our lives to compete effectively in new ways and on all new battlefields,' he said in a direct reference to the Moscow's meddling.
Speaking to thousands of cheering Poles, Trump called their nation 'the geographic heart of Europe' and praising their countrymen for shaking off both Nazi oppressors and Russian occupiers in the last century.
'That's trouble. That's tough,' he exclaimed.
'In those dark days, you have lost your land but you never lost your pride.'
President Donald Trump questioned if the West has the 'will to survive' in a landmark speech in Warsaw on Thursday afternoon
Trump spoke in front of a crowd at Krasinski Square at the Royal Castle in Warsaw on Thursday
Trump participates in a wreath laying ceremony before delivering a speech at Krasinski Square at the Royal Castle
Trump waves next to First Lady of the US Melania Trump, Polish President Andrzej Duda and First Lady of Poland Agata Kornhauser-Duda before Trump's public speech at Krasinski Square
People cheer as Trump delivers his landmark speech at Krasinski Square at the Royal Castle
Ahead of his speech on Thursday, First Lady Melania Trump welcomed the crowd and introduced her husban
Trump delivered his address in Krasinski Square, at the foot of a statue commemorating the 1994 Polish uprising against German occupiers. He and first lady Melania Trump laid a wreath at its base.
Speaking behind bulletproof glass, he said Poles are 'a people who truly know the value of what you defend.'
He urged them to uphold 'a future in which good conquers evil.'
They chanted 'USA, USA' and 'Donald Trump! Donald Trump!'
Trump had earlier met the Polish president and warned that the future of the West is in doubt.
In his speech he praised Poland's 'will to survive' because they 'have never, ever forgotten who they are.'
'The Polish experience reminds us - the defense of the West ultimately rests not only on means but also on the will of its people to prevail,' Trump said.
'Your oppressors tried to break you, but Poland could not be broken,' he said.
And Trump projected his fight against Middle Eastern terrorism onto the template of Poland's historic struggles, saying that 'We are fighting hard against radical Islamic terrorism, and we will prevail.'
'America and Europe have suffered one terror attack after another. We are going to get it to stop,' he said.
The president urged European nations to commit more of its money to NATO, as he said the organization's 'Article 5' commitment to mutual defense is an ironclad guarantee.
'Words are easy but actions matter,' he said.
At a press conference following his private talks with Andrzej Duda, Trump said North Korea would face 'consequences' for its intercontinental ballistic missile test.
He also admitted that Russia 'could have' interfered with the 2016 election and vowed to work with Poland on addressing threats from the country.
Trump's whirlwind visit to Warsaw comes just days before he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin. He will next travel to Germany for Friday and Saturday's G20 summit.
Trump's appearance alongside the Polish president will go down badly in Russia
Trump's visit was coordinated with the Three Seas Initiative which is a new 12-nation trade and economic bloc organized in part to limit Russia's power, especially in ways that diminish its dominance in the region's energy markets.
At a joint press conference between Trump and Duda, the US president called on the global community to ensure there are 'consequences' for Pyongyang's belligerence and warned that he is considering a 'severe' response.
'I call on all nations to confront this global threat and publicly demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences for their very, very bad behavior,' Trump said.
'I have pretty severe things that we're thinking about,' he said, but added: 'That doesn't mean that we'll do them.'
Trump later said that he was working with Poland on addressing threats from Russia and reiterated his calls for NATO members to meet their financial obligations.
In a direct appeal to Russia, Trump said in his speech that Vladimir Putin's country should 'cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere.'
Duda for his part said he believed Trump took Poland's security seriously.
'We see ourselves as loyal partners who cooperate on a number of issues, among others on security,' Duda told said at the news conference.
Trump said then that the country 'could have' interfered with the 2016 US presidential election which saw him take victory over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
President Donald Trump is set to question if the West has the 'will to survive' in a landmark speech in Warsaw on Thursday
Trump held a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday after the pair had private talks
At a press conference following his private talks with Andrzej Duda, Trump said North Korea would face 'consequences' for its intercontinental ballistic missile test
He also admitted that Russia interfered with the 2016 election and vowed to work with Poland on addressing threats from the country
He added, however, that he's not totally convinced that Russia was the sole meddler in the election, contrasting claims from US intelligence agencies who said the effort was directed by Putin and emanated from Moscow.
'I think it was Russia, and it could have been other people in other countries,' Trump said. 'Nobody really knows.'
He added that US intelligence agencies have made mistakes in the past, so 'nobody really knows for sure'.
The president sought to redirect any scrutiny toward his predecessor, Barack Obama, accusing him of allowing Moscow to meddle on his watch.
Though the Obama administration warned Russia publicly and privately before Election Day to stop interfering, questions have since been raised about whether he acted aggressively enough to stop the threat.
'They say he choked. Well, I don't think he choked,' Trump said. 'I think he thought Hillary Clinton was going to win the election, and he said, "Let's not do anything about it".'
Trump said the CIA had informed Obama about the hacking months before the election but added that 'mistakes have been made.'.
He also took a question about a domestic tempest that developed this week over a video clip he tweeted on Sunday, depicting himself body-slamming a pro-wrestling mogul whose face was superimposed with CNN's logo.
CNN quickly condemned the tweet and assigned a reporter to find out where the viral meme originated.
At a joint press conference between Trump and Duda, the US president called on the global community to ensure there are 'consequences' for Pyongyang's belligerence and warned that he is considering a 'severe' response
Trump later said that he was working with Poland on addressing threats from Russia and reiterated his calls for NATO members to meet their financial obligations
Trump's whirlwind visit to Warsaw comes just days before he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin. He will next travel to Germany for Friday and Saturday's G20 summit
Trump and Duda shook hands for photo ops several times on Thursday, including after their joint press conference
By Thursday the network was under fire for allegedly threatening to reveal the name of a person it said created the video.
But CNN appears to have gotten it wrong, using the wrong version of the doctored footage as the basis for their interview with the unnamed man.
'I think what CNN did is unfortunate for them,' Trump said at the press conference. 'As you know they have some pretty serious problems.
'They have been fake news for a long time. They have been covering me in a very, very dishonest way.'
Trump then turned to Duda and asked, 'Do you have that also, Mr President?', to which Duda shrugged.
'What CNN did - and what others did, NBC is equally as bad despite the fact that I made them a fortune with The Apprentice but they forgot that,' Trump said. 'What I will say is that CNN has really taken it too seriously and I think they've hurt themselves very badly, very, very badly.
'And what we want to see in the United States is honest, beautiful, free, but honest press. We want to see fair press.
'I think it's a very important thing. We don't want fake news. By the way, not everybody is fake news. But we don't want fake news. Bad thing. It's very bad for our country.'
Trump talks with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, center right, as they arrive for a group photo prior to the Three Seas Initiative transatlantic roundtable in the Great Assembly Hall of the Royal Castle, in Warsaw
Trump talks to Duda as US ambassador to Poland Paul W Jones looks on during the Three Seas Initiative Summit on Thursday
Duda, center, speaks with Croatia President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic as Trump makes a comment during the Three Seas Initiative transatlantic roundtable in the Great Assembly Hall of the Royal Castle
The group who attended the initiative includes leaders of the Baltic, Adriatic and Black seas nations and aims to expand and modernize energy and trade with the goal of reducing the region's dependence on Russian energy
While at the Royal Castle, President Trump and Duda (not pictured) attended a meeting together
Following the press conference, Trump attended a meeting of the Three Seas Initiative.
The group includes leaders of the Baltic, Adriatic and Black seas nations and aims to expand and modernize energy and trade with the goal of reducing the region's dependence on Russian energy.
While at the meeting, Trump pledged that the United States will never use energy to coerce eastern and central European nations, adding that the United States won't allow other nations to coerce them either.
Trump said he's proud that the region is benefiting from US energy supplies. Poland received a first shipment of liquefied natural gas from the United States last month.
Trump noted the region's special significance to him. His wife, Melania, is a native of Slovenia, which belongs to the group.
He then claimed that everyone is benefiting from the thriving US economy except for him.
He bragged of recent stock market gains, but said: 'Personally, I've picked up nothing.'
Poland's ruling party sees itself as a Euroskeptic regime along the lines of last year's Brexit movement in the United Kingdom
The US president's unapologetic brand of nationalism is seen as its idealized complement, aligning Washington and Warsaw in a push against a Berlin-dominated Europe
Trump and Duda shook hands at the Royal Castle in front of a white marble bust of Stanislaw August Poniatowski, the last king of Poland
The leaders then retreated to a room decorated with red walls for their private talks, where they also posed for photos
Asked how he felt about the trip, Trump, who is on a whirlwind 16-hour trip in Poland said 'Great'
'That's all right,' he said. 'Everyone else is getting very rich. That's OK. I'm very happy.'
Trump gave his two adult sons and a senior executive control of his global real estate, property management and marketing empire when he took office in January. But Trump did not divest his businesses.
Instead he placed his financial assets in a trust that he can seize control of at any time.
Busloads of Trump supporters were sent to Warsaw to see Trump speak on Thursday in Krasinski Square, where a monument stands to a 1944 popular uprising against German occupation.
In every corner of Poland, citizens were offered free transportation to Warsaw if they wanted to be a part of the Trump show.
They heard the US president complain about 'the steady creep of government bureaucracy that drains the vitality and wealth of the people'.
Trump also praised'the triumph of the Polish spirit over centuries of hardship' in a landmark speech in Warsaw, the White House said Thursday morning.
Poland's courage 'gives us all hope for a future in which good conquers evil, and peace achieves victory over war,' Trump said.
Polish President Duda gave Trump a tour of the royal castle on Thursday ahead of their joint press conference
Meanwhile, First Lady Melania Trump met with Poland's First Lady, Agata Kornhauser-Duda at the Belvedere Palace in Warsaw
Trump's daughter, Ivanka, visited the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw on Thursday
'I am here today not just to visit an old ally, but to hold it up as an example for others who seek freedom and who wish to summon the courage and the will to defend our civilization,' Trump will say.
The words 'courage,' 'will' and 'civilization' were capitalized for emphasis in the snippets the White House sent to reporters.
Trump's script calls for a united stand against 'shared enemies' – a reference to Islamic terrorists – 'to strip them of their territory, their funding, their networks, and any form of ideological support'.
The United States is serious about the security of its ally Poland, Duda said on Wednesday after his meeting with Trump.
'We see ourselves as loyal partners who cooperate on a number of issues, among others on security,' Duda told the joint news conference. 'I have a feeling that the United States is serious about Poland's security.'
'We see ourselves as loyal partners who cooperate on a number of issues, among others on security,' Duda told the joint news conference. 'I have a feeling that the United States is serious about Poland's security.'
Trump has made a point of attacking what adviser Steve Bannon has derided as 'the bureaucratic state,' rolling back regulations that he says are choking free enterprise and dampening the American economy.
Trump will praise 'the triumph of the Polish spirit over centuries of hardship' in a landmark speech in Warsaw, the White House said Thursday morning
The two presidents met at the Royal Castle in Warsaw on Thursday morning head of Trump's landmark speech
Thursday's joint appearance with Duda at Warsaw's royal castle was originally billed as a press conference
Trump, like Poland's President Andrzej Duda, is aligned against the European Union's bureaucracies
'The West became great not because of paperwork and regulations but because people were allowed to chase their dreams and pursue their destinies,' Trump's speech adds.
'Americans, Poles, and the nations of Europe value individual freedom and sovereignty.
'We must work together to counter forces, whether they come from inside or out, from the South or the East, that threaten over time to undermine these values and to erase the bonds of culture, faith and tradition that make us who we are.'
Trump, like Poland's President Andrzej Duda, is aligned against the European Union's bureaucracies.
Flag-waving Poles lined Trump's motorcade route on Wednesday night, but critics pointed out that the government had paid to bus in thousands from Poland's far-flung provinces.
Duda's government had reportedly promised his American counterpart a hero's welcome as a condition of visiting Poland.
Like the Trump administration, Duda's government is staking its claim on a desire to limit the numbers of refugees it resettles even as European Union leaders press Warsaw to open its borders
rump will speak to the leaders of Three Seas Initiative nations and address the Polish people at Warsaw's Krasinski Square later in the da
The White House later described the meeting as a 'press event', which raised concerns that Trump wouldn't be taking questions from reporters
The pair met between flags of each nation before heading into a discussion about the European Union
Poland's ruling party sees itself as a Euroskeptic regime along the lines of last year's Brexit movement in the United Kingdom.
The US president's unapologetic brand of nationalism is seen as its idealized complement, aligning Washington and Warsaw in a push against a Berlin-dominated Europe.
Like the Trump administration, Duda's government is staking its claim on a desire to limit the numbers of refugees it resettles even as European Union leaders press Warsaw to open its borders.
'The Polish government has the same position as Americans – we want strict restrictions on refugees,' legislator Krzysztof Mróz told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
'While we will always welcome new citizens who share our values and love our people, our borders will always be closed to terrorism and extremism,' Trump will say in his upcoming speech, the White House said Thursday morning.
Thursday's joint appearance with Duda at Warsaw's royal castle was originally billed as a press conference.
By Tuesday, however, the White House began describing it in advisories to reporters as a 'press event', raising concerns that Trump wouldn't take reporters' questions.
Trump (his motorcade pictured above) will speak to the leaders of Three Seas Initiative nations and address the Polish people at Warsaw's Krasinski Square
Trump's whirlwind visit to Warsaw comes on the front end of a journey to Germany for Friday and Saturday's G20 summit
Trump arrives on a state visit at the Okecie Airport, Warsaw President Donald Trump visit to Poland on Wednesday
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive on a state visit at the Okecie Airport in Warsaw on Tuesday evening
Also on the trip to Warsaw were Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband Jared Kushner
On Thursday morning the White House confirmed that the press conference would indeed include a Q&A from at least four journalists.
Trump's ongoing media war has tended to overshadow talk of his domestic and foreign agendas, a condition he could ill afford as he launched his second diplomacy tour in six weeks.
Duda, too, rolled the dice by allowing American journalists to question his government's clampdown on press freedoms in the last year.
Protesters blockaded the Polish parliament in December after the ruling Law and Justice party restricted the number of journalists allowed in the building and limited which TV networks could record proceedings there.
European Council President Donald Tusk quickly invoked the word 'dictatorship' to warn Duda, as his government blamed protesters for staging an 'illegal attempt to seize power.'
Protesters shouted 'Solidarity!' – a throwback to the communist-era movement led by then-dissident trade unionist Lech Wałęsa, who later became president.
Unlike past US presidents, Trump did not meet with him in Poland. Duda's right-wing government has sought to downplay Wałęsa's role in Poland's history.
Wałęsa, however, was in the crowd for Trump's speech.
(The Mail, UK)
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