US President Donald Trump reacted to the electoral defeat of Viktor Orbán, calling the Hungarian prime minister a ‘good man’ who did a ‘fine job’ on immigration.
Speaking to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Trump said that Orbán ‘was a friend of mine’, delivering a jab at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, stating that Orbán ‘didn’t let people come in and ruin his country, as Italy has done.’
Trump, who endorsed Orbán countless times in the past few months and is considered to be the closest Western ally of the outgoing Hungarian government, had yet to react to the results of the Sunday election, which saw the end of Orbán’s 16 years in power. On Monday, Newsweek reporter Leonardo Feldman asked Trump to react, which he visibly ignored.
In the Corriere della Sera interview, the US president spoke about his relationship with Orbán in the past tense, which sparked speculation about Trump ‘dumping’ the Hungarian prime minister immediately after his election defeat, despite their long and articulated friendship. Orbán was the first leader to endorse Trump back in 2015, before he became the presidential candidate of the Republican Party. Many within Trump’s MAGA movement saw Orbán’s Hungary as a conservative model to follow, with Steve Bannon calling the Hungarian prime minister ‘Trump before Trump’ after the 2016 election victory of the US president.
After his re-election in 2024, both the Trump administration and Orbán’s government emphasized the strong personal relationship between the two leaders. During his visit to Budapest in February 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed a ‘golden era of relations’ between the United States and Hungary. ‘President Trump is deeply committed to your success,’ Rubio said, adding that Washington’s national interest is for Hungary to thrive ‘as long as you’re prime minister,’ and that the two countries have ‘not even scratched the surface of what we can achieve together.’
Just two days before the Sunday vote, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Washington is ready to use the ‘full economic might’ of the United States to strengthen Hungary’s economy if needed, adding that America is ready to invest in the future prosperity of Hungary under the ‘continued leadership’ of Viktor Orbán.
In the week ahead of the election, Vice President JD Vance visited Hungary to boost Orbán’s re-election chances, placing the partnership between the two administrations in civilizational terms. ‘What the United States and Hungary represent under the leadership of Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán is the defence of Western civilization,’ Vance said during a joint press conference with Orbán on 7 April. The vice president also offered strong personal praise for Orbán, calling him ‘the most important leader in Europe’.
Vance commented on the election results a day before Trump, on Monday, stating that, despite opinion polls indicating a strong possibility of Orbán losing power, his decision to visit Hungary was based on the belief that it was important to stand by a leader ‘who had consistently supported the United States.’ He also characterized Orbán’s time in office as transformative, arguing that his leadership had fundamentally reshaped Hungary’s political and economic landscape over more than a decade and a half.
Vance also said that Washington is prepared to engage constructively with Hungary’s incoming leadership. The opposition Tisza Party, led by former Fidesz insider Péter Magyar, won a landslide, securing a supermajority in the country’s 199-seat parliament. Speaking during his first international press conference as prime minister-elect, Magyar said that ‘everything must be done’ to maintain strong ties with the Trump administration, while describing the election result as a ‘major defeat’ for the MAGA movement. He added that he does not intend to initiate contact with Trump, but that his government would be open to engagement if approached by Washington.
Speaking to ABC News on Wednesday, Trump said that Péter Magyar also seems a ‘good man’ and that he believes the next prime minister will do a ‘great job’ in government.
‘In politics, personal friendships primarily matter between leaders in power’
Viktor Orbán’s government has highlighted in its communication many times in recent years that personal relationships increasingly matter in the transforming world order, and the prime minister indeed had much stronger ties with leaders of global power centres—such as Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping—than most European leaders.
The days following his defeat, however, appear to show that, in politics, personal friendships primarily matter between leaders in power, with most of his allies choosing to cooperate pragmatically with Hungary’s incoming government. Orbán also immediately conceded and admitted defeat on Sunday, which may have influenced the attitude of his allies.
Speaking on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow ‘noted with satisfaction’ that Magyar is willing to engage in ‘pragmatic dialogue’ with Russia. ‘We were never friends with Orbán,’ Peskov said, adding that Moscow remains open to dialogue and to building ‘good, mutually beneficial relations’ with Budapest.
Hungary under Orbán had been consistently criticized for its close ties to Russia, including continued energy cooperation after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Orbán visited Moscow several times since 2022, making him the only European leader to maintain constant diplomatic relations with Russia, while emphasizing the need for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine and a détente between Europe and Moscow.
On Monday, Prime Minister-elect Magyar said that his government intends to continue importing ‘cheap Russian oil’ while also promising to diversify energy imports.
Related articles:
At a time when public debate is increasingly polarized and superficial, Hungarian Conservative remains committed to depth, intellectual honesty, and independent conservative thought.
Producing high-quality journalism requires resources. Your contribution helps us expand our coverage, reach new audiences, and keep our content accessible.
Please consider supporting our mission.
