Elon Musk asked his 216 million followers on X if his new DOGE agency should ‘audit the IRS’, the US government agency tasked with collecting tax revenue from US residents. Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming majority voted yes, and Musk seems to take ‘the voice of the people’ seriously, as he demonstrated with the unbanning of Donald Trump on his platform back in November 2022.
Some of the largest Western mainstream media outlets have been caught red-handed in the growing scandal surrounding USAID, with POLITICO, The New York Times, and others accused of receiving funding from the controversial agency. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his gratitude to US President Donald Trump for ‘uncovering and putting an end’ to USAID’s foreign interference.
‘We’ve already seen a noticeable shift in tone that reflects the strong potential for a new golden age in US–Hungary relations under President Trump’s leadership. The renewed emphasis on mutual respect, shared strategic interests, and a commitment to sovereignty has been evident in early diplomatic engagements. However, this is just the beginning. There’s significant work ahead to translate this positive momentum into concrete outcomes,’ Bryan Leib has told our site.
Balázs Orbán pushed back against accusations from the Hungarian opposition outlet Telex regarding the government’s alleged avoidance of giving interviews to such media. In response to Telex’s article, he published the full interview, demonstrating how opposition media use these opportunities to construct narratives that could harm the Hungarian government, ultimately serving certain foreign interests.
US Ambassador to Hungary hopeful Bryan Leib has vowed to hold accountable those who collaborated with David Pressman in his mission to discredit Hungary. ‘Mark my words—actions like this will have serious consequences for all who were involved in this,’ he wrote in a post on X.
‘The truth of the matter is that the Chinese will not allow themselves to be entrapped by Western and non-Western foreigners alike as they did during the “Century of Humiliation”. Xi is determined more than ever to have China emerge as the greatest power on earth, thus seeing the U.S. not as a partner but as an adversary that is equally determined to do everything it can to ensure he fails.’
USAID’s slogan ‘From the American people’ has become extremely controversial since Donald Trump’s crackdown on the agency, during which his team exposed its most dubious tactics in promoting a woke, progressive agenda worldwide using millions of US taxpayer dollars. Hungary has also been significantly affected, with government-critical media outlets and NGOs receiving substantial grants.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has warned that the European Union faces tough months ahead following Donald Trump’s return to power, urging Brussels to prepare for a ‘Trump tornado’. In a Facebook post, Orbán criticized EU leaders for underestimating Trump’s impact, while emphasizing the need for a strong deal to preserve economic ties with the US.
‘Given the loss of security and economic credibility of the Western powers in 2008–2009 from a Central European perspective, and the serious economic and energy security challenges Hungary was facing at the time, it was an understandable and legitimate step to begin building pragmatic relations with Moscow 15 years ago and to set the stage for an eastward opening…’
The Brutalist, a three-and-a-half-hour drama about the journey of Jewish Hungarian architect László Toth after WWII, starring Adrien Brody, won Best Picture at the London Critics’ Circle Awards last weekend. Directed by Brady Corbet, the film, already receiving widespread acclaim, is now preparing for the Academy Awards in March with nominations in 10 categories.