By Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is planning to appear with Polish President Andrzej Duda in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Sunday, according to two sources familiar with the plan.
The dual appearance is not yet finalized, warned one of the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss plans that are still private. But if the dual appearance goes forward, it would mark a rare instance of a foreign leader appearing alongside a U.S. presidential candidate on the campaign trail.
A who’s who of world leaders is expected to arrive in the United States in the coming days for the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.
Many foreign delegations have already reached out to allies of the former president in an attempt to connect with Trump or his foreign policy advisers, according to several people familiar with those conversations.
At a town hall in Michigan on Tuesday night, Trump said he would meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week.
One of the sources said Trump and Duda were set to appear at a Polish-American Catholic shrine in the suburbs north of Philadelphia.
News of the visit was first reported by LevittownNow.com, a local outlet in Pennsylvania.
The Trump campaign and the Polish embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Americans of Eastern European descent have become a sought-after voting bloc for both Trump and his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, in the lead-up to the Nov. 5 election.
During a debate in Philadelphia earlier in September, Harris referenced Pennsylvania’s Polish-American population, while implying that Trump would not be a strong defender of Poland if it were attacked by Russia.
The Trump campaign has rejected that characterization and said that only Trump can effectively negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump has hosted several world leaders over the last several months, though they have mainly met with him at his residences in New York and Florida, rather than on the trail.
Trump last met with Duda in New York in April.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery, editing by Ross Colvin and Edwina Gibbs)
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