This is the astonishing moment Polish politicians chanted ‘Donald Trump, Donald Trump’ in parliament as they celebrated his victory over Kamala Harris.
Members of the Polish opposition applauded as they sang out the name of the newly-announced 47th president of the United States following his victory overnight.
One MP for the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party was pictured wearing a baseball cap with Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan on it.
MPs met at a session of the Sejm – Poland‘s lower house of parliament – early this morning where many were quick to welcome the return of President Trump.
Donald Trump built strong ties with the PiS government during his last term, and was congratulated by PiS-allied Polish President Andrzej Duda, writing on Twitter/X: ‘Congratulations, Mr President! You made it happen!’
Members of the Sejm stood to applaud as chants of ‘Donald Trump’ rang out
Members of the PiS party were quick to congratulate Trump for his victory in the election
Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024
Donald Tusk, leader of the centrist Civic Coalition, meanwhile wrote on Twitter/X this morning: ‘Congratulations to Donald Trump on winning the election.’
‘I look forward to our cooperation for the good of the American and Polish nations.
While Duda continues to hold the presidency, Tusk was elected prime minister in December 2023, bringing together three separate political conditions.
Polish politics remain fragmented, with the populist PiS party having pushed conservative positions including a near-total ban on abortion, and used anti-LGBT rhetoric.
Tusk’s government had pledged to overturn the ban, make anti-LGBT hate speech a crime and depoliticise the media.
Ahead of the election result, Mariusz Blaszczak, former PiS Deputy Prime Minister, suggested that if Trump won, the Polish government should resign.
‘The current Polish government will be in a very bad position, because they are bringing Poland into conflict with the US and with the former, and possibly future, President Trump, with whom the PiS government cooperated very well,’ Błaszczak told broadcaster Polsat.
‘After a Trump victory, Tusk should resign.’
Mark Brzezinski, the American ambassador in Warsaw, told the Polish Press Agency today that Trump had demonstrated a commitment to Polish-American relations, recalling positive ties under the last Trump administration.
Lech Wałęsa, the leader of the Solidarity trade union’s famed protests against the communist authorities in the 1980s, meanwhile branded Trump’s election a ‘disgrace’.
‘How can a first citizen be elected with such a resumé and such actions?’ he said, speaking to the Polish state news agency.
Asked what a Trump victory meant for the West, NATO and Ukraine, he said: ‘We can’t foresee that because with someone with such a character, with such a resumé, you don’t know what to expect.’
The election of Donald Trump has sparked concern for the fate of the region, following Trump’s promises to end the war in Ukraine ‘in 24 hours’.
He has not said how he would do so. Foreign policy experts fear a deal could involve ceding land to Russia in a new policy of appeasement.
Trump also told Reuters last year that Ukraine may have to cede territory to reach a peace agreement, something the Ukrainians reject and Biden has never suggested.
A Ukrainian woman living in Poland told Euronews ahead of the results that a Trump victory would feel like ‘the end of the world’.
‘The elections of another country are deciding my fate, and I’ve got no right to vote’, said Vlad, a Ukrainian Air Defence Forces soldier.
‘I’m worried that my comrades in the army, even more civilians and I could die in the future because of these elections.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy congratulated Trump on Twitter/X, describing Trump’s peace-through-strength approach as a ‘principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer’.
Trump’s 2017-2021 presidency was often defined on the world stage by his ‘America First’ protectionist trade policy and isolationist rhetoric, including threats to withdraw from NATO.
Trump will also confront a volatile Middle East that threatens to descend into a broader regional conflict. Israel is fighting wars in Gaza and Lebanon while facing off against arch-foe Iran, even as Yemen’s Houthis fire on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower on April 17, 2024
Poland’s Donald Tusk attends a meeting with Serbia’s President in Belgrade October 24, 2024
Trump is expected to continue arming Israel, whose existence he said would have been endangered if Harris had been elected – a claim dismissed by the Biden administration given its staunch support for Israel.
His policy toward Israel likely will have no strings attached for humanitarian concerns, in contrast to pressure that Biden applied in a limited way.
Trump may give Netanyahu a freer hand with Iran, at a time of particular volatility in the region, and fear of wider escalation.
But Trump could face a new crisis if Iran, which has stepped up nuclear activities since he abandoned a nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018, rushes to develop a nuclear weapon.
When Trump was last in the White House, he presided over the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. But those diplomatic deals did nothing to advance Palestinian statehood in the West Bank and Gaza.