President Trump landed Wednesday evening in Warsaw, the opening of a major visit to Europe where he will attend the G20 summit in Hamburg and will meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Donald Trump plays big
Trump's first European trip in May had revealed the depth of distrust between the two shores of the Atlantic. The second is supposed to change it. Donald Trump, followed by his wife Melania, his daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, was welcomed by Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski and President Andrzej Duda's Chief of Staff Krzysztof Szczerski.
Donald Trump begins with a pro-American country, his four-day tour where sensitive topics will not neglect, between transoceanic tensions and North Korean nuclear threat. The climate of this previously-pitched tour is heightened by the testing of a North Korean intercontinental missile capable of reaching Alaska and the resulting US-China tensions.
Trump's high-tension meetings
Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will have a delicate discussion in Hamburg, their views being opposed on North Korea. After urged China to end "this nonsense situation" on social networks, in a new tweet Wednesday, Donald Trump accused Beijing of undermining the efforts of the United States by strengthening its trade with Pyongyang.
Meanwhile, the United States announced on Wednesday that they would, with the support of France, table a draft resolution at the United Nations, introducing new sanctions against North Korea. However, Russia has already warned Wednesday that such sanctions will be opposed. Donald Trump's first-ever bilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin on Friday in the boundaries of the G20 does not look promising.
A meeting that will be watched closely by their rivals, but also in the United States against a backdrop of an investigation into the Russian influence in the surroundings of Donald Trump.
Finally, it is a safe bet that Donald Trump might have a surprise in his mind, so don’t be disturbed if he ends up visiting Afghanistan or Iraq (or both) throughout this trip.
The reality is that Donald Trump's Polish choice does not meet any particular strategic vision, beyond the concern to show his constituents, in Iowa or Ohio, that he also has crowds ready cheering on the Old Continent, not just hostile protestors.
Why Poland?
Part of the answer lies in the date of this announcement. If Donald Trump had never paid attention to Poland's invitation, there was suddenly an interest in its disastrous first travel in Europe in late May, at the summit of the NATO and the G7.
