After nearly a decade of mainstream pollsters consistently underpolling President Trump’s national support in the United States, it is fair to ask the question: Does his approval rating even matter anymore? Or is there any better way to asses the success of his second administration?
‘There has been an extraordinarily noticeable and palpable shift in the political culture and discourse in the United States over the past two decades…And the absolute most crucial thing the Democratic Party wants you to believe is that, above all else, being a Democrat is the only acceptable thing to be in America.’
Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia has announced that his government coalition is proposing a new amendment to the Slovakian Constitution which would dictate that only two genders, male and female, are recognized by the country’s government. This is a very similar amendment that Hungary added to its Fundamental Law in December 2020.
After President Trump announced a 90-day pause for the 75 countries that offered to negotiate instead of reciprocating, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2,962.86 points, which is the largest single-day gain in its history. In terms of percentage, it was 7.87 per cent, which was its 19th largest single-day gain since it started tracking in 1882.
Hungary is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, following years of scepticism toward it. The announcement coincided with the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Budapest for talks with his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán.
However, a ballot initiative calling for a state constitutional amendment requiring photo IDs for elections also passed in the important swing state of Wisconsin.
On 18 February 2025 Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrived in Hungary at the invitation of President of the Republic of Hungary Tamás Sulyok. According to Sulyok, a strong Israel is essential both for the fight against antisemitism and for a secure future for the Middle East and Europe. The Hungarian head of state emphasized that there is an ongoing dialogue between Hungary and Israel and that there are no problematic issues.
‘Mr Khan also took the unusual step of convening a “panel of experts” in January 2024 “to support the evidence review and legal analysis” related to the Gaza case. After this, he announced his pursuit of arrest warrants as the panellists unanimously recommended that he do so. However, it seems that the outcome was already determined beforehand.’
Syrian insurgents led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) captured Damascus, ending Bashar al-Assad’s rule. As the Syrian president fled the country, Hungarian opposition media outlet Magyar Hang claimed his plane landed in Budapest. The outlandish allegation was swiftly denied by Budapest Airport and the government, with even the news website later admitting that the claim was baseless.
History professor Allan Lichtman’s Keys to the White House model predicted Kamala Harris would win the 2024 election, which, evidently, was won by Donald Trump instead. Professor Lichtman can’t seem to accept that his model failed, so he argued that it missed because it relies on ‘a rational, pragmatic electorate’—is that really why ‘the great predictor’ missed?
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.
