Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who will stand for re-election in April, that President Donald Trump is “deeply committed” to the success of Hungary.
“President Trump is deeply committed to your success, because your success is our success. We want this country to do well. It’s in our national interest, especially as long as you’re the prime minister and the leader of this country,” Rubio told Orban at a joint press conference in Budapest on Monday.
“We are entering this golden era of relations between our countries, and not simply because of the alignment of our people, but because of the relationship that you have with the President of the United States,” Rubio said.
“If you face financial struggles, if you face things that are impediments to growth, if you face things that threaten the stability of your country, I know President Trump will be very interested, because of your relationship with him,” Rubio said, “and because of this importance that this country has, just finding ways to provide assistance if that moment ever were to arise.”
“I’m going to be very blunt with you – the prime minister and the president have a very, very close personal relationship and working relationship, and I think it has been beneficial to our two countries,” Rubio told reporters at the press conference.
Orban responded by expressing his enthusiasm for hosting a trilateral peace summit between the United States, Ukraine, and Russia. He said President Trump has an “open invitation” to visit Budapest whenever he likes.
Orban was a bit less enthusiastic about hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he accused of meddling in Hungary’s upcoming election by slamming Orban for his reluctance to provide military and financial aid to Ukraine.
Orban took a beating in Zelensky’s surprisingly combative address to the World Economic Forum in Davos last month. The Ukrainian president declared that “every Viktor who lives off European money while trying to sell out European interests deserves a smack upside the head.”
“And if he feels comfortable in Moscow, it doesn’t mean we should let European capitals become little Moscows,” Zelensky added.
Orban shot back that Zelensky was “a man in a desperate position” who has been “unable or unwilling to bring a war to an end.”
Zelensky and Orban went after each other again at the Munich Security Conference this weekend. Zelensky taunted Orban for thinking about “how to grow his belly” instead of “how to grow his army to stop Russian tanks from returning to the streets of Budapest.” Orban responded by vowing to do everything in his power to prevent Ukraine from joining the European Union.
Orban is one of President Trump’s strongest supporters in Europe, with the two in agreement about the dangers of civilization-crushing mass migration and the importance of supporting traditional Western culture. Rubio met over the weekend with another staunch European ally of Trump’s, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Orban is currently running behind in most polls against Peter Magyar, his major challenger in the April election and a former member of Orban’s Fidesz party.
Magyar became the leader of a center-right opposition party called Tisza in 2024. On Sunday, he officially launched his campaign to end Orban’s 16-year run as prime minister, based on criticisms of Orban’s economic policies and his friendly relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Magyar has, however, promised to largely continue Orban’s tough immigration policies.
On Sunday, Magyar met with European leaders at the Munich conference, then gave a press conference in which he promised to reverse Orban’s “drift out of the European Union.”
“Hungary’s place is in Europe. Not only because Hungary needs Europe, but also because Europe needs Hungary,” he said.
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