WASHINGTON – Former US president Donald Trump praised Mr Viktor Orban as a “fantastic leader”, while poking fun at criticism of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s self-proclaimed illiberal tendencies, as the two populist leaders met on March 8 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Mr Orban “is a non-controversial figure because he says, ‘this is the way it’s going to be’, and that’s the end of it”, Trump joked to a room full of attendees at his resort, as shown in a video of the event posted by Mr Orban on Instagram.

“Right? He’s the boss. No – he’s a great leader, fantastic leader.”

Trump feted Mr Orban with a tour of his residence, dinner with former first lady Melania Trump, an hour-long meeting with senior aides, and a musical performance by a band covering the late American singer Roy Orbison. 

The meeting is a defiant act by Trump just a day after United States President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union address, accused his presumptive November opponent and Republicans of turning their backs on democratic ideals by blocking additional assistance for Ukraine.

Mr Biden criticised the planned get-together directly at a political rally in Philadelphia earlier on March 8, saying Mr Orban “doesn’t think democracy works” and was “looking for dictatorship”.

Mr Orban has in the past urged the West to cut off financing for Ukraine, which he has said is the quickest way to force Kyiv to negotiate a ceasefire with Russia.

The Biden administration has criticised Mr Orban over his friendly relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he met in October 2023 in China, as well as legislation in Hungary that the State Department warned could “intimidate and punish” critics of Mr Orban’s government.

Trump, during his presidency, sought to cultivate closer ties with Mr Putin, even saying he believed the Russian leader’s denial of interference in the 2016 presidential election over the conclusions of US intelligence services. 

The former US president in February denounced the Biden administration’s request for billions of dollars in new funds for Ukraine, saying that lawmakers should attach conditions to the assistance or structure the aid as a loan.

The March 8 meeting was expected to sow further concern across Europe, where leaders are already sounding the alarm over Ukraine’s ability to maintain its war effort without more US assistance and bracing themselves for Trump’s possible return to power.

Trump has said he told a Nato ally during his presidency that he would encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that did not meet the alliance’s defence spending obligations.

“We all want peace, but nobody decent would agree to the peace on the conditions set out by Moscow and Putin,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is expected to meet Mr Biden at the White House on March 12, told reporters in Bucharest this week.

Kindred spirits

Trump has praised Mr Orban as a “strong leader”. The Prime Minister has cultivated a strongman image in Hungary and used his veto power to frustrate consensus efforts in the European Union. 

The two men share a political narrative premised on a purported struggle against the established order and a disdain of the Biden administration, which has criticised the erosion of Hungarian democracy and Mr Orban’s close ties to Beijing and Moscow.

“The election campaign is going at full steam here in the US,” Mr Orban said in a Facebook video after meeting Trump.

“It’s up to the Americans to decide. But let’s be honest – it would be best for the world and for Hungary if Donald Trump returned to the presidency.”

For Mr Orban, March 8’s meeting was a chance to shed his black sheep image and position himself as a potential bridge between Europe and the US, should Trump win the November election.

While leaders from around Europe are renewing connections with Trump’s team, few have the direct line and air of camaraderie that Mr Orban has with the former president.

Mr Orban’s government has cultivated ties with Trump allies for years. Hungary has hosted satellite Conservative Political Action Conference events, with another one planned for April, and cultivated right-wing influencers such as conservative commentator Tucker Carlson. 

After the meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Mr Orban repeated his claims that a Trump victory would help achieve peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The Hungarian leader, known as a political risk-taker, was the first European premier to endorse Trump during his first presidential campaign.

He has also called for Trump’s return in 2024 and dismissed court cases against the former president as a “witch-hunt”, which mirrors how Mr Orban has cast EU probes of democratic backsliding in Hungary. BLOOMBERG