A look at the leading candidates for Poland's next president

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland holds a presidential election Sunday as the conservative incumbent Andrzej Duda nears the end of his second and final term. If none of the 13 candidates wins at least 50% of the vote, a runoff will be held June 1 between the top two. All signs indicate it will be a showdown between Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and conservative historian Karol Nawrocki.

While much of the power in Poland lies with the prime minister and legislature, the presidency is far more than ceremonial, with influence over foreign policy and military affairs and the ability to veto legislation.

Here is a look at the top four candidates:

Trzaskowski, a political ally of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has been leading in polls with support just above 30% — a clear edge over his two main rivals, both conservative nationalists.

Supporters of the 53-year-old praise his pro-European stance and his role in modernizing Warsaw, which has seen significant infrastructure and cultural investment during his tenure.

However, Poland remains a largely conservative, Catholic country. Trzaskowski’s liberal views — particularly his support for LGBTQ+ rights and participation in Pride parades — alienate some voters outside urban centers. He also faces criticism over local governance, including allegations of inefficiency, controversial real estate management and perceived wasteful spending.

In a runoff, he could expect the bulk of right-wing voters to coalesce behind the other candidate. Trzaskowski could also be vulnerable to voter apathy among centrists and progressives who are frustrated with Tusk’s inability to deliver on key campaign promises, such as loosening Poland’s strict abortion law.

This is the second presidential campaign for Trzaskowski after Duda narrowly defeated him five years ago.

Nawrocki, 42, is the candidate representing Poland’s conservative Law and Justice party. The historian currently heads the Institute of National Remembrance, where he angered Russia with efforts to topple Soviet-era memorials. He previously directed the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk, putting his national conservative stamp on the institution. His academic work has focused on anti-communist resistance and organized crime in communist-era Poland.

He is not a party member, and his candidacy represents the Law and Justice party's strategy to present a fresh face as it aims to regain influence. The party ruled for eight years but lost power to Tusk's coalition in 2023.

Nawrocki’s campaign has been marred by controversies.

Journalists revealed that in 2018, under the pseudonym “Tadeusz Batyr,” he published a book on a notorious gangster. In a television interview, Batyr — with his face blurred and his voice altered — praised Nawrocki’s work without disclosing they were the same person. Separately Nawrocki, using his real identity, praised Batyr's work.

Nawrocki has also been linked to a scandal involving the acquisition of a Gdansk apartment from an elderly pensioner named Jerzy. Allegations suggest Nawrocki promised to care for Jerzy in return but failed to fulfill the commitment, leading the man to end up in a city-funded retirement home. Journalists uncovered the story after Nawrocki claimed in a debate that he owned only one home, and the explanations he has given to explain the existence of his second apartment have shifted — creating a clear impression of impropriety that his competitors have seized on.

At 38, Sławomir Mentzen has emerged as a prominent figure in the presidential race, leveraging his savvy use of social media platforms to connect with younger voters. His sleek videos and populist messaging have resonated with many young people, especially men. Mentzen also has been actively touring the country, aiming to broaden his appeal to older demographics.

The rise of his Confederation party coincides with a broader surge of populist right-wing movements across Europe.

However, Mentzen’s political journey has not been without controversy. In 2019, he made headlines with a statement saying: “We don’t want Jews, homosexuals, abortion, taxes or the European Union.”

While he later said the remark was taken out of context, it has continued to shadow him. Although the Confederation party has emphasized its free-market positions and distanced itself from some extreme elements, many Poles remain wary of Mentzen’s past statements.

He experienced an early surge in the polls that faded after he advocated for the introduction of tuition fees at state universities, a stance that proved unpopular given Poland’s tradition of free higher education.

He also has taken a hard-line position on abortion, opposing it even in cases of rape — a view that for many went too far.

Mentzen is also a successful entrepreneur. He has degrees in economics and physics and owns a brewery in the central city of Torun that has produced beers with names such as “White IPA Matters,” “Hate Speech” and “Bitcoin.” The “White IPA Matters” beer had a marketing campaign featuring a Black bartender, triggering controversy.

In a personal revelation, Mentzen disclosed in 2024 that he has autism. He shared that while he possesses strong concentration skills, he sometimes struggles with interpreting others’ emotions.

Szymon Hołownia, 48, is a former television personality who transitioned into politics, bringing charisma and a fresh face to the political scene.

Once a seminary student, he became widely known as the co-host of Poland’s version of “Got Talent.” His political journey began in earnest with his candidacy in the 2020 presidential election, where he secured nearly 14% of the vote to finish third.

In 2020, Hołownia founded the Poland 2050 movement, which evolved into a political party. In the 2023 election, the party joined forces with the conservative agrarian Polish People's Party to create the Third Way coalition, which then joined Tusk's coalition. Hołownia was elected as the speaker of the Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament.

His showman's flair energized Poles hungry for new faces in a political scene dominated by many of the same figures for decades, including Tusk. Captivated citizens began watching live sessions of parliament online, drawn by his energy and wit.

Some analysts say his decision to join Tusk's government, however, has undermined his image as a refreshing outsider.

FILE - Karol Nawrocki, the presidential candidate backed by the conservative Law and Justice party, outlines his program ahead of Poland's May presidential election in Szeligi near Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)

FILE - Poland's Civic Platform member, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, gestures during an election campaign rally in Otwock, Poland, on Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)

This combination of photos shows Slawomir Mentzen, left, in Katowice, Poland, on Sept. 23, 2023 and Szymon Holownia in Warsaw, Poland, on Nov. , 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)

This combination of photos shows Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, left, in Warsaw, Poland, on March 14, 2022 and Karol Nawrocki in Szeligi near Warsaw, Poland, on March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)