US President Donald Trump has praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, but some Republicans have deep concerns about Orban's influence over the former president.
“Viktor Orban… I mean he's strong. They see him as strong. It's a good thing, not a bad thing. He runs a strong country,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News that aired Saturday night.
Given their shared ideology, including rapprochement with Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin and opposition to arming Ukraine, it is no surprise that Trump has warmed to Orbán, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. As EU president, Orbán has adopted Trump’s campaign mantra, promoting an agenda of “making Europe great again.”
But as Politico reported, some Republicans are concerned about the deepening relationship between Trump and Orbán. Orbán has visited Trump twice this year in Florida, and the prime minister has spent billions of dollars funding Hungarian conservative foundations and paying salaries to American journalistic “influencers,” hoping they will influence policy in the United States and elsewhere. In 2022, Hungary partnered with the conservative Partnership Institute and distributed materials containing explicitly pro-Russian talking points.
“Russia has the will, the strength, and the patience to continue the war,” reads the document, obtained by one of the participants and seen by Politico. “US aid to Ukraine should be severely restricted, and US leadership should encourage Ukrainian President Zelensky to seek a truce and recognize Ukraine as a neutral state.”
In July, Orban boasted that he had helped write Trump's policy proposals.
“they [Orbán allies] “They’re saying things that people want to hear about issues they care about,” a government source told Politico. “They’re pushing what they really want.” What they really want is an end to the war in Ukraine with a Putin victory. Many in GOP foreign policy circles are concerned that Orban is using the MAGA ethos to advance pro-Russian goals, the source added.
Orbán has boasted of his influence with Trump, saying in a speech last month that Hungary has “deep involvement” in “the software writing system for President Donald Trump’s team.”
Speaking of Orban’s influence, Christopher Harrison, a former adviser in the George W. Bush administration, told Politico: “I think Orban is the person who has the most influence in Europe.” [Orbán] “As a super lobbyist, with the kind of influence that any K Street lobbyist could only dream of.”
