Bob Dole heaped praise on President Trump for what he described as the restoration of "strong American leadership" put on display during his trip to Europe over the past few days.

Calling it a "successful trip" overall, Dole, a former Republican senator from Kansas who ran unsuccessfully for president in 1996, singled out Trump's speech in Warsaw, Poland, as being particularly important. In a statement Saturday, Dole described the speech from Wednesday as "one for the ages, a vital, eloquent, and stirring articulation of the values and shared goals that bind us together with the Polish people, and with millions of others around the world who seek to live in freedom."

Trump received a warm welcome in Poland, which stands in contrast to the massive protests that awaited him later in the week at the G-20 summit in Germany. In his speech Trump not only addressed NATO, of which Poland is a part, and Russia, but also spoke about defending western civilization.

"We cannot mistake the significance of Poland and the great Polish people in the history of the struggle for human liberty," Dole said. "The message was desperately needed at this time from our American president and we are grateful for it and for the manner in which he delivered it."

At the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Dole complimented Trump for completing a "number of critically important strategic meetings." The U.S. president had his first one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been tied to interference in the 2016 election, as well as meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May, among others.

"Americans should be proud of the strong American leadership being restored by President Trump," Dole said. "More importantly," he added, "they should be proud to live in a country that stands for the values he has so ably expressed, shared, and defended."

"President Trump's actions have immensely helped restore our position as leader of the free world," Dole said, before calling on political leaders to set partisanship aside to address "serious problems" in places like North Korea, Syria and Ukraine."

Dole's statement was shared Saturday by White House press secretary Sean Spicer as Trump is headed back to the U.S. upon the conclusion of the G-20 summit.

Trump later tweeted his thanks to Dole.