Trump to meet with Hungary’s Viktor Orban at White House

ABC News Radio4 hours ago

45 2 minutes read

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) President Donald Trump and Hungary’s autocratic leader Viktor Orban, whom Trump has repeatedly praised as a “strongman,” will meet at the White House on Friday.

Expected to be part of the talks is Russia’s war in Ukraine, specifically new U.S. sanctions targeting two of Moscow’s largest oil companies and their subsidiaries that are set to go into effect on Nov. 21.

Last week, Trump said Orban wanted an exemption from the sanctions.

“He has asked for an exemption. We haven’t granted one, but he has asked. He’s a friend of mine. He’s asked for an exemption,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

Orban was recently going to play host to a summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, before Trump called the proposed meeting off amid frustration with the lack of progress in peace talks.

Trump said they had picked Budapest, Hungary as the location because both he and Putin liked Orban.

“He’s been a very good leader in the sense of running his country,” Trump said of Orban.

Ahead of Friday’s meeting, Orban posted on X that he hoped to “open a new chapter in Hungarian–American relations with President Trump.”

“Our goal is to establish a strategic partnership that includes energy cooperation, investments, defence collaboration, and discussions on the post-war landscape following the Russia–Ukraine conflict. We are working on an agreement based on mutual benefits, one that serves the interests of every Hungarian citizen,” Orban wrote.

Trump also welcomed Orban to the White House during his first term, in 2019, breaking from his predecessors who had shunned Hungary’s prime minister from Washington.

The two men met several times when Trump was out of office at his Florida estate, including during the summer of the 2024 campaign and after Trump became president-elect.

Orban has been embraced by many prominent American conservatives over his positions on immigration and LGBTQ issues, and has spoken several times at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Orban hosted a CPAC event in Hungary earlier this year.

Trump praised Orban during the ABC News September 2024 presidential debate with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, after Harris claimed Trump was not respected on the world stage.

“Let me just tell you about world leaders. Viktor Orban, one of the most respected men — they call him a strong man. He’s a tough person. Smart. Prime Minister of Hungary. They said why is the whole world blowing up? Three years ago it wasn’t. Why is it blowing up? He said because you need Trump back as president,” Trump said during the debate.