Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian government put everything on the table erstwhile they supported Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election last year. After announcing the results, the Hungarian Prime Minister dissolved on Facebook over the "historically return" Republican to the White House.
Orbán and his people have long preached that Trump's re-election will bring economical recovery, and indeed that in Hungarian-American relations the "new golden age" could come. They anticipate to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, which, according to the government in Budapest, is the origin of all economical problems in the country. They care all the more that in 2026 on Hungary parliamentary elections will be held. The triumph so far, which provided Fidesz with two-thirds of the vote in parliament, is mostly due to the revival of the economy.
In fresh years, relations between Hungary and the United States have deteriorated significantly. For example, Viktor Orbán's reluctance to meet David Pressman, who has been the US Ambassador to Budapest since 2022. Throughout his term, Pressman was a solo in the Fidesz eye and pro-government media: he harshly criticized the Hungarian authorities for destroying democracy and the regulation of law and for the increasing influence of Russia and China in Hungary. The leaders of Fidesz hope that the Trump administration, unlike this Biden, will not deal with Hungary's interior affairs and will enable the implementation of a fresh government strategy – a policy of alleged economical neutrality – that is, unlimited sanctions for trade with China or Russia.
The Fideshu squad has invested quite a few money and energy in fresh years to build a good relation with Donald Trump and his surroundings. 1 of the most spectacular manifestations of these efforts was last year's "peace mission" by Orbán, whose final stage, after talking to the presidents of Ukraine, Russia and China, was to meet Trump at his Florida estate. Now Fidesh feels that he will yet be able to reap the fruits of his work. In their rhetoric, this means that thanks to his relationship with the Republican, Orbán will be able to gain benefits which, given the geopolitical position and the importance of Hungary, could not be achieved in any another way. During a December proceeding in Parliament, the chief minister of the economy in the government of Viktor Orbán – Márton Nagy – stated that the Hungarian government would "play Trump card" to strengthen Hungarian-American economical relations. According to the announcement, Orbán would like to sign with the fresh administration first and foremost an agreement on the ban on double taxation, visa waiver and American capital investment.
In the following months, we will see if Orbán truly has as much effect on decisions taken in Washington as government propaganda does. The absence of the Prime Minister of Hungary at Trump's inauguration on 20 January may seem surprising, especially in view of specified many representations of abroad leaders.
On January 7, just 2 weeks before authoritative change of power, The United States has announced that due to corruption, the Hungarian propaganda minister, who besides oversees Hungarian peculiar services Antal Rogán, is being listed on the list of sanctioned persons. Rogán was on this list with the Russian arms manufacture support company and erstwhile Prime Minister of North Macedonia Nikola Gruewski. The government described this decision as "political provocation" and "malignant vengefulness" by David Pressman for supporting the Hungarian government for Trump. Pressman, in turn, believes that the situation in Hungary concerns not only the democrats: last October, a delegation of Republican organization Senators visiting Budapest besides expressed concern about the ever-increasing openness of the pro-Russian policy of Hungary. Many people wonder how rapidly Orbán will be able to remove Rogán's name from the American "black list".
The second crucial question concerns the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Trump, who is known for making promises without cover, had previously announced that he would end it within 24 hours, and it is on these announcements that Orbán bases his claims of a swift agreement. But since then Trump has besides claimed that if Moscow does not agree to the negotiations, then the US will increase arms shipments to Ukraine to an unprecedented size. The Hungarian government constantly condemns the sanctions imposed on Russia, claiming that in practice they are the most harmful to the European economy. Trump threatened to impose even higher duties and taxes on Russia.
Given Trump's most crucial economical promises from the run period, it is hard to say why the Hungarian government enjoyed his re-election so much. If Trump actually imposes on China and the European Union the duties he threatened during the campaign, the consequences for the Hungarian economy will be mourned. In fact, it is not known whether the "America in the first place" policy will bring Hungary anything good.
In 2019, Ursula von der Leyen, among others, thanks to the support of Orbán, became the president of the European Commission, and late Fidesz politicians mention to her as George Soros' bedside. Orbán besides had friendly relations with Giorgia Meloni, yet the Italian Prime Minister acted against his interests in many crucial matters. So if Trump fails to fulfill his hopes, the Hungarian government will not be disappointed for the first time with its ally.
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András Mizsur – writer of the Hungarian Telex portal.
Translation by Anna Boros | Voxeurop Services
