President Donald Trump took a call from Vice President JD Vance to voice support for Viktor Orban during a rally alongside the Hungarian leader in Budapest on Tuesday, as the White House looks to boost the beleaguered prime minister ahead of what could be a bruising April 12 national election for his ruling Fidesz party.
Trump’s phone call came just hours after the president threatened the death of an entire civilization if Iran misses his 8 p.m. deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“He does a job, remember this, he didn't allow people to storm your country and invade your country like other people have, and ruin their countries frankly,” Trump said of Orban. “He's kept your country good, he's kept Hungarian people in your country. And he's done a fantastic job.”
Orban is one of the Trump administration’s top allies in Europe, and the president has routinely praised his anti-immigration stance while slamming leadership in the United Kingdom, France and Germany as “weak.” Vance’s visit to the Hungarian prime minister follows a February meeting between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Orban, during which Rubio announced a “Golden Age” in relations between Washington and Budapest.
Still, Orban’s party is down by double digits to anti-corruption opposition candidate Péter Magyar and the center-right, as the longtime leader struggles against a sluggish economy and widespread allegations of fraud within his ranks. An endorsement from Trump — who remains popular in Hungary — may not be enough to boost his reelection chances by next week.
In his phone call, Trump cast Orban as a bulwark against rampant immigration in Hungary, telling a crowd of several thousand at Budapest’s MTK Sportpark that “the United States is with him all the way.”
“He kept your country strong, and he kept your country good. and you don't have problems with all of the problems that so many other countries have,” he said. “Because they let their countries be invaded. And you don't have that problem because of Viktor Orban.”
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