Donald Trump praises Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban
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How do you tell somebody you do not like them without actually telling somebody you do not like them? Maybe you invite one of the people around who the one detests and tell the world what a great guy he is.
That is exactly what Donald Trump has done to the EU with his invitation to Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban to his Florida home Mar-a-Lago.
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But it was far more than that. Trump did not just invite Orban over and give him the gold plated grade 1 star treatment, he also produced a video about the whole visit saying what a fantastically great guy the Hungarian Prime Minister is.
"There's nobody who that's better, smarter or better leader than Viktor Orban," enthused the former President (almost certainly not including himself in that assessment).
"He's fantastic. As you know he's Prime Minister of Hungary and does a great job."
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READ MORE: Viktor Orban spills Donald Trump’s ‘quite detailed plans’ on ending Ukraine war
Donald Trump is no fan of the EU (Image: Getty)
Trump joked: "He's a non-controversial figure because he said 'this is the way it is going to be and that's the end of it'."
He added: "He's the boss! A great leader in Europe. A fantastic leader and all over the world they respect him."
There was a bit of tongue-in-cheek humour from the former President as he tries to win back the White House this November but the whole event can only be taken as a deliberate shot across the bows to the EU and its Brussels elite led by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
To understand that you have to look at Orban's recent history with the EU and the now longstanding tensions between his government in Budapest and the Brussel bureaucracy and Strasbourg Parliament.
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Ursula von der Leyen and the EU have tried to punish Hungary (Image: Getty)
Orban's fight with Brussels
The struggle between Orban's government and Brussels goes back many years. But essentially it boils down to the Fidesz leader believing in sovereignty and the government his people elect deciding policies for his country. Good old fashioned democratic accountability.
Added to that he does not like LGBTQ+ issues being taught in schools, he is anti-woke and fairly sceptical on Ukraine.
These issues led to Brussels trying to get him defeated in the last election in 2022 by supporting a pro-EU coalition which Orban then hammered at the polls (the same tactic worked for the EU last year in Poland when Donald Tusk led the pro-EU grouping of disparate parties and narrowly won).
Since then the EU has essentially tried to starve out the Orban government by withholding billions of euros in funding unless Hungary bows to its will on woke issues.
In retaliation, Orban blocked aid to Ukraine and the process of Ukraine starting to join the EU, arguing that Brussels was giving away Hungary's money. Then, the EU threatened even worse economic sanctions on Hungary.
Orban was not finished though. He gave a speech launching an attack on the EU implying that Hungary could have its own Hexit but saying the whole bloc needs to be reformed.
This is the context in which Trump - that great friend of Nigel Farage and fan of Brexit - invited Orban over as a guest of honour.
Viktor Orban gave a speech attacking the EU (Image: Getty)
MAGA loves Orban
The other part of this context is that the Make America Great Again (MAGA) Republicans who support Trump love Viktor Orban, as do most Republicans not called Nikki Haley.
Orban's anti-woke, pro-family policies are seen as trailblazing by the American right and they like his policy of putting his own country's interests first.
Added to that his scepticism about the war in Ukraine (although this is largely because Russia almost completely controls Hungary's energy supplies) goes down well with a Republican Party that increasingly questions ploughing US dollars into a European war with no visible end.
In short, Orban is a conservative hero to Americans and it is no accident that the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) chose Hungary as its first foreign venue outside the USA.
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CPAC has a strong Hungarian connection (Image: Getty)
What Trump's support for Orban means
Trump did not need to specify his policies to let the EU know exactly what he will do by linking himself to Orban. Here is a list of what it means:
He will not support a continued war in Ukraine. Orban actually said as much afterwards. He will back countries which want to protect their sovereignty against the EU or leave it. As he backed Brexit Britain. He will be a bulwark against the sort of progressive woke policies that the EU seems to want to promote.
Added to this, Orban's party is front and centre in trying to change the complexion of the European Parliament this year in what are crucial elections. A Trump endorsement is actually more helpful than many EU leaders would care to admit.
It is fair to say that the EU leadership knew things would be difficult with a Trump Presidency. The visit of Orban to Florida has confirmed that it might be worse than even they feared.
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