Donald Tusk confirms Kosiniak-Kamysz discussed domestic politics in March Trump meeting

Disclosures around the March White House meeting

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk addressed revelations concerning a previously unpublicized March 2026 discussion between Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and US President Donald Trump at the White House. The subject resurfaced after Law and Justice (PiS) Member of the European Parliament Adam Bielan stated on 23 September that he helped organize high-level access for Kosiniak-Kamysz with an American official higher in rank than Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Speaking to TVN24 on Monday, Tusk confirmed that he received an immediate briefing from Kosiniak-Kamysz in March, stating that the discussion addressed Polish domestic politics rather than bilateral military base infrastructure.

The conversation had a discretionary character, and therefore I feel obliged to maintain discretion. It concerned rather the internal situation in Poland, to put it most delicately.

Disputed accounts of meeting length and organization

The encounter took place on 2 March 2026 during a White House ceremony where Trump posthumously presented the Medal of Honor to US Army Staff Sergeant Michael Ollis, who died in Afghanistan in 2013 protecting Polish officer Karol Cierpica. Speaking on TV Republika and RMF FM, Bielan claimed that associates of Kosiniak-Kamysz asked him to facilitate direct contact with Trump, asserting that the resulting conversation lasted several dozen minutes. Kosiniak-Kamysz stated at a press conference that the exchange was a brief informal discussion facilitated by the Chancellery of Polish President Karol Nawrocki, adding that Bielan was not present in the room during the talk.

It was an informal meeting, of course, so I informed the Prime Minister immediately and I believe that was completely advisable and sufficient.

Diplomatic protocol and cabinet friction

The disclosure produced disagreement within the Polish government after Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski noted that no official diplomatic memorandum regarding the encounter was submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bielan argued on TV Republika that the Polish People's Party had publicized the 2 March meeting on Facebook a day beforehand, leaving no reason for controversy. Kosiniak-Kamysz stated at a press conference that his primary message during the exchange was expressing gratitude for American troops stationed in Poland, arguing that an informal conversation required only a direct report to the prime minister. Sikorski criticized the absence of formal diplomatic documentation on social media.

From such an important conversation, the organizer was obliged to prepare a memo, and this did not reach the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Could it be because the meeting also served as an attempt to involve a foreign state in our domestic politics?

When asked why Sikorski was not informed about the meeting, Tusk answered that questions regarding cabinet communication should be directed to the participants directly involved.

Dispute over permanent US base negotiations

Bielan asserted that the March conversation was intended to unblock stalled negotiations over establishing a permanent American military base in Poland, claiming government delays over 13 months had cost Poland an American troop rotation. Tusk and Kosiniak-Kamysz rejected that claim, maintaining that military bases were not on the agenda during the March encounter because the topic had not yet emerged. Poland formally declared its readiness to host a permanent US military base in May 2026. On 17 September 2026, Trump announced progress toward establishing a US army base in Poland, crediting Polish President Karol Nawrocki. Kosiniak-Kamysz stated that final determinations on European troop deployments depend on an American defense posture review scheduled for publication toward the end of 2026.