Tusk said on Monday that Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz briefed him about the meeting shortly after it took place at the White House in Washington.
Asked by broadcaster TVN24 what the two men had discussed, Tusk declined to give details.
'The conversation was confidential'
"It is too interesting a conversation to talk about publicly," he said.
Asked specifically whether a permanent US military base in Poland had been discussed, he said it had not.
"The conversation was confidential, and that is why I feel obliged to maintain confidentiality," Tusk said. "It concerned rather the internal situation in Poland, to put it as delicately as possible."
Pressed further, he said: "History will learn someday."
Kosiniak-Kamysz gave a different emphasis during a news briefing on Monday in Ciechanów, north of Warsaw.
He said his "most important message" to Trump had been to thank him "for the presence of American soldiers in Poland."
He also said a permanent US base had not been discussed. Trump did not publicly raise the prospect until September, Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
The dispute began after Adam Bielan, a European Parliament member from the opposition Law and Justice party (PiS), said last week that he had helped arrange a meeting for Kosiniak-Kamysz with someone "much more important" than US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Kosiniak-Kamysz then disclosed that he had spoken briefly with Trump at the White House on March 2.
He was in Washington for a ceremony at which Trump posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to US Army Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis.
Ollis was killed in Afghanistan in 2013 after placing himself between a suicide bomber and Polish officer Karol Cierpica, saving the Polish soldier’s life.
Bielan said on Friday that he had been among those who arranged the Trump meeting and that its purpose was to "unblock" negotiations over a permanent US base in Poland. He claimed the talks had previously made virtually no progress.
Kosiniak-Kamysz rejected that account on Monday. He also said Bielan had not attended his conversation with Trump and credited the Polish President's Office with playing a major part in arranging it.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has questioned why no official record of the Trump meeting reached his ministry.
"From such an important conversation, the organizer had a duty to prepare a note," Sikorski wrote on X.
He asked whether the absence of such a record was because "the meeting had also involved an attempt to involve a foreign state in our internal politics."
Kosiniak-Kamysz said the meeting had been informal and that he had immediately informed Tusk. He said informing the prime minister was "entirely appropriate and sufficient."
Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Friday that the United States was seriously considering locations in western Poland, including the cities of Poznań and Wrocław, for a potential permanent military base.
Trump said on Thursday that his administration was looking into the possibility of establishing a new military base in Poland and that it could happen.
In response to a question about the proposed base, Trump said: "We're looking at that and we have great respect for the president of Poland. So, we're looking at that and it could happen."
Asked why he had not made a final decision on a US Army base in Poland, Trump said: "You don't know if I made it or not. I might have made it. I like Poland."
US President Donald Trump. Photo: EPA/ALBERT PENA
It was Trump's second recent comment on the potential permanent US Army base in Poland.
On September 17, Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform, that "major progress" was being made toward establishing a US Army base in Poland.
He attributed the progress to what he called the "bold leadership" of his "friend," Polish President Karol Nawrocki, and said a location for the base could be announced soon.
Marcin Przydacz, head of the Polish president's International Policy Bureau, later told reporters that the decision had "de facto been made."
According to Przydacz, Trump had discussed the issue with Polish President Karol Nawrocki during a reception for leaders attending the UN General Assembly debate in New York in September.
Polish Deputy Defence Ministers Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka and Paweł Zalewski travelled to the United States last month for talks on the issue.
Zalewski said on September 23 that Poland was not negotiating whether the base would be established, saying the decision had already been made and was the result of efforts by successive Polish governments and presidents.
US Deputy Defence Secretary Elbridge Colby said in a statement published last week that the Pentagon was exploring potential opportunities for the permanent deployment of US forces in Poland as part of broader efforts to strengthen military cooperation with key allies.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR/PAP