US President Donald Trump greeted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the White House on Friday, where the two leaders are holding a working lunch following a joint press conference.
Opening the briefing, President Trump hailed Orbán as ‘a great man and a strong leader’, saying it was ‘a great honour’ to welcome his ‘friend’ back to Washington. He noted that the talks would focus on ‘trade, a bit about Russia and Ukraine, and energy’.
Orbán began his remarks by saying it was good to return to the White House after six years and that Hungary had come to Washington to ‘open a new chapter’ in bilateral relations. He argued that much of the progress achieved under Trump’s first term had been ‘destroyed’ during the Biden administration, but said the past ten months under Trump’s renewed presidency had already brought major improvements. Orbán continued by saying that Hungary is a ‘modern Christian government’ and a ‘small island in a liberal ocean’, sharing many values with the current US administration, particularly on migration and the pursuit of peace. The Hungarian prime minister added that one of his main objectives was to support Trump’s efforts to bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
When asked by reporters whether Hungary should reduce its reliance on Russian oil, Trump echoed Budapest’s position, explaining that Hungary has no seaport and is therefore ‘forced by geography’ to buy Russian crude. Orbán agreed, calling it ‘a physical reality’, adding that the pipeline from Croatia cannot currently meet Hungary’s energy needs. That marks a major development, as Hungary is seeking an exemption from US sanctions on Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil, which would have a significant impact on the country’s energy supplies.
Trump also praised Orbán’s stance on migration, saying the Hungarian leader ‘was right all along’ and that other European leaders should admit as much. ‘Everybody respects Orbán—some even like him. I both respect and like him,’ Trump said.
Orbán noted that Hungary pays a ‘daily penalty of one million euros’ to the European Union for its strict border protection policies. In response to a question on whether the US would intervene to prevent Brussels from sanctioning Hungary, Trump said he urges all European leaders to ‘respect Viktor’, remarking that, as in the US, migration levels in Hungary were ‘zero’.
Turning to the issue of peace in Ukraine, Trump repeated his view that the war ‘should never have happened’ and would have ended within a week had he been president at the time. He suggested that Russia is losing thousands of soldiers every week and that the conflict could end in the ‘not-too-distant future’. Orbán agreed, saying that if Trump had remained in office in 2020, the war would not have broken out. ‘We came here to do everything we can for peace,’ he stressed.
‘Trump said he still intends to hold a peace summit in Budapest’
Asked about his postponed meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said he still intends to hold a peace summit in Budapest, reiterating that he cancelled the previous one only because he believed ‘no progress would have been made at that time’. He confirmed that he remains open to meeting Putin ‘when the time is right’.
When asked whether he would support Orbán in Hungary’s upcoming elections, Trump replied: ‘I don’t know who his opponents are, but I will support him anyway,’ citing the strong economic cooperation between the two countries and the flow of US investments into Hungary. He added that he hopes Orbán ‘will be very successful’ in next year’s parliamentary elections.
The meeting, attended by senior Hungarian officials including Péter Szijjártó, János Lázár, and Balázs Orbán, was followed by a working lunch. Both leaders confirmed that discussions would continue throughout the afternoon and that further details of any agreements would be released afterwards.
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