On Friday, former President Donald Trump had an unusual meeting at his Mar-a-Lago club with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. As the two populist leaders met Friday at Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump mocked criticism of the Hungarian prime minister’s self-declared illiberal inclinations and hailed Viktor Orban as a “fantastic leader.”
Trump joked to a packed house at his Florida resort that Orban “is a non-controversial figure because he says, ‘this is the way it’s going to be,’ and that’s the end of it,” according to a video of the event that Viktor Orban shared on Instagram. Correct? He is in charge. No, he’s an amazing leader who leads well.
Trump gave Viktor Orban a tour of his home, had supper with Melania Trump, the former first lady, held an hour-long discussion with key officials, and had a band cover Roy Orbison.
Viktor Orban’s Ties with Putin Put Biden and Trump at Odds
Trump’s brazen move to have the meeting comes only one day after President Joe Biden blasted Republicans and his presumed opponent in November for betraying democratic values by obstructing more aid for Ukraine in his State of the Union speech.
At a campaign speech in Philadelphia earlier on Friday, Biden openly attacked the planned gathering, claiming that Viktor Orban “doesn’t think democracy works” and was “looking for dictatorship. ”In the past, Viktor Orban has said that the best approach to pressure Kyiv to negotiate a cease-fire with Russia is for the West to stop providing financial support for the country.
The Biden administration has taken issue with Orban’s cordial ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he visited in China in October of last year, as well as Hungarian laws that the State Department said might “intimidate and punish” opponents of Orban’s administration.
Throughout his administration, Trump made an effort to strengthen his relationship with Putin, even going so far as to claim that he trusted his denials of Russian meddling in the 2016 election more than the assessments of US intelligence agencies.
Trump criticized the Biden administration’s proposal for billions of additional funding for Ukraine last month, arguing that Congress ought to impose restrictions on the help or design it like a loan.
The meeting on Friday was predicted to raise greater concerns throughout Europe, whose leaders are already worried about Ukraine’s capacity to continue its war effort without additional US support and are preparing for the possibility that Trump may win back office. During his administration, Trump allegedly threatened to “do whatever the hell they want” to any country that did not satisfy its defense expenditure commitments to Russia.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters in Bucharest this week, “We all want peace, but nobody decent would agree to the peace on the conditions set out by Moscow and Putin.” Tusk is scheduled to meet with Biden at the White House on Tuesday.
Companion Spirits
Orban has been hailed by the former US president as a “strong leader.” In Hungary, the prime minister has built a strongman persona and obstructed attempts at EU agreement by using his veto authority.
The political narratives of the two men are based on an alleged war against the status quo and contempt for the Biden administration, which has denounced Orban’s strong links to Beijing and Moscow as well as the decline of Hungarian democracy.
With Trump winning the election in November, Viktor Orban sees this meeting as an opportunity to shed his reputation as a black sheep and present himself as a possible mediator between the US and Europe. While European leaders are reestablishing contact with Trump’s staff, few have the same direct relationship and sense of solidarity as Orban does with the former president.
Trump associates have been cultivating relationships with Orban’s regime for years. Hungary has fostered right-wing leaders like Tucker Carlson and sponsored satellite Conservative Political Action Conferences; another is scheduled for April.
Known for taking political chances, the president of Hungary was the first premier of any European country to support Trump in his first presidential campaign. Along with calling for Trump’s comeback in 2024, he has also labeled legal actions against the former president as a “witch-hunt,” echoing Orban’s portrayal of EU investigations into Hungary’s democratic reversals.
Orban stated at a diplomatic gathering in Turkey last week that Trump’s return is a “precondition” for a “strong and quick peace on the European continent.” “From a Hungarian perspective and a peace perspective, Trump’s return is highly desirable.”
