The US president elect and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban have had good relations since Donald Trump's first presidential term.
Back in 2016, during Trump’s first election campaign, PM Orban spoke favorably of the Republican candidate during his annual speech at Tusvanyos, stating,
I am not a part of Donald Trump's campaign, and I never thought I’d find myself thinking that out of all the available options, he would be the best choice for Europe and Hungary. But having listened to him, I must say he made three proposals to combat terrorism that I, as a European, couldn’t have articulated better in terms of what is needed in Europe.
The prime minister later described Trump as a leader focused on success and efficiency. In an interview in 2016, Viktor Orban said
I spoke with Donald Trump, and I can confidently say that our position has significantly improved,
noting that the then newly elected Trump had made it clear that he has the highest regard for Hungary.
One of the first issues that brought Trump and Orban together was migration policy.
The position of the United States and the Visegrad countries (V4 Group) on migration are completely aligned: borders must be protected, and migrants must be stopped,
the PM pointed out in 2017, adding that both leaders supported measures like building fences or walls to ensure national security and prevent illegal immigration.
In 2018, before the arrival of US Ambassador David Cornstein, Donald Trump personally called Viktor Orban to emphasize the importance of strengthening US-Hungary relations.
Trump described Cornstein as a wonderful individual who would help further improve bilateral ties.
(Photo: ZOLTAN FISCHER/AFP)
The bond between the two leaders became more prominent in 2019 during Orban-Trump talks in the White House, a meeting that highlighted the prime minister's growing role not only in Europe but globally, emerging as a key figure for nations like Israel, Trump’s US, and even China.
The relationship remained steadfast, even beyond Donald Trump's first presidency.
In 2021, Trump wrote a letter to Orban saying:
Proud of you!
He thanked Orban for his friendship and his commitment to shared values like freedom and patriotism.
Donald Trump’s Second Presidency
In July 2024, PM Viktor Orban embarked on a whirlwind peace mission. The last stop was a meeting on July 11 with then presidential candidate Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
At the time PM Orban posted on social media:
Peace Mission 5.0. It was an honor to visit @realDonaldTrump in Mar-a-Lago. We discussed ways to make peace. The good news of the day: he's going to solve it!
In response, Donald Trump sent a personal message to Orban:
Thank you, Viktor. Let there be peace, quickly. Too many lives have been lost in a war that should never have started!
Later that year, after Trump’s reelection as US president, the two leaders met again in Mar-a-Lago for a three-hour discussion, demonstrating their continued strong personal and political rapport.
This sign of their close relationship will undoubtedly lead to improved relations between the two countries following Trump's inaguration, experts say.
Since his re-election, Donald Trump has spoken to the Hungarian prime minister several times on the phone and has also received him in person.
The 45th and 47th president of the United States of America have spoken positively about Viktor Orban on several occasions and praised him in interviews and statements. Tamas Magyarics, a historian and former Hungarian ambassador to Dublin, told Magyar Nemzet earlier,
the President-elect wants to signal who he would work more closely with in the coming years.
In our podcast after the US presidential election, experts pointed out that Viktor Orban's good personal relationship with Donald Trump could also strengthen the former's position within the EU.
On the EU-US relations and the impact of the good relationship between Trump and Viktor Orban, Steve Bannon, former senior adviser to the US president-elect, said,
PM Orban is the true bridge to Trump from Europe.
Bannon added that the Hungarian prime minister is the one who is most in alignment with the MAGA movement. A colleague of the senior adviser also stressed that PM Viktor Orban has always supported Donald Trump behind the scenes as well as publicly, which has strengthened their good personal relationship and also serves a mediating role between Europe and the new US administration.
Cover photo: Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and US President-elect Donald Trump (MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office/Zoltan Fischer)
