Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump invited Hungary’s prime minister to his private residence in Florida last week for a discussion of topics that impact both countries.
Trump and Viktor Orban have found common ground on key issues in the past, and Friday’s meeting reportedly revolved largely around a widespread immigration crisis.
According to a Trump campaign statement, the two world leaders met for about an hour “to discuss a wide range of issues affecting Hungary and the United States, including the paramount importance of strong and secure borders to protect the sovereignty of each nation.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban joined President Donald J. Trump and his wife Melania at Mar-a-Lago pic.twitter.com/xRhFIFuxia
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 9, 2024
Each man emerged from the meeting with kind words about the other, with Trump calling Orban a “fantastic leader” and Orban endorsing Trump as a leader who can “bring us peace.”
The former president went on to praise the Hungarian leader’s strict border security measures, writing in a social media post: “Hungary is a Safe Country because of his Strong Immigration Policies, and as long as he is in charge, it always will be.”
In remarks from his Mar-A-Lago resort, Trump dismissed concerns that Orban exercises power with an authoritarian bent.
Calling Orban a “non-controversial figure,” Trump praised his straightforward approach to communication.
“He says, ‘This is the way it’s going to be,’ and that’s the end of it,” Trump added. “Right? He’s the boss. No, he’s a great leader, fantastic leader.”
Unsurprisingly, President Joe Biden was critical of the meeting.
“You know who he’s meeting with today down in Mar-A-Lago?” Biden asked a crowd in Pennsylvania in reference to his predecessor. “Orban of Hungary, who’s stated flatly that he doesn’t think democracy works; he’s looking for dictatorship.”
Orban has attracted some support among American conservatives, however, due in part to his fierce criticism of leftism within his own country.
“Hungary is a place where we didn’t just talk about defeating the progressives and liberals and causing a conservative Christian political turn, but we actually did it,” the prime minister said during his remarks at last year’s Conservative Political Action Conference Europe, which was held in Budapest.
In addition to railing against “woke culture” and the “virus” of modern liberalism, Orban has also used his position to take on what he has referred to as the “LGBTQ lobby” in Hungary.
