Visiting Mar-a-Lago is part of Viktor Orbán’s plan to destroy democracy.
After gaining power in a democratic election, the prime minister of Hungary undermined democratic institutions by, among other things, demagoguing migration, attacking the press, politicising businesses, and destroying the judicial system.
When the presumed Republican nominee, Donald Trump, visits Orbán in Florida on Friday, he will likely be eager to exchange notes because Trump has made it clear that he will attempt something similar in the US if reelected.
The prime minister will not be meeting with representatives from the Biden administration. No invitation was given for a meeting between the current US president and Hungarian leader, according to an official from Biden’s office who spoke with AWN’s Betsy Klein. He would rather meet with the man he believes will be the US president again next year. There is a deep well of respect and adoration between the two guys. As one of his first acts as the presumed GOP nominee this week, meeting with a European autocrat says a lot.
Trump admires Orbán and aspires to be more like him, a strongman who is free from political and legal constraints. Equal to the past US president, Orbán often genuflects to Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia. Orbán is on board with Trump’s promise to halt the conflict in Ukraine if elected within the next day, but this could only happen if Putin is satisfied, which would be a reward for his unlawful invasion. The fact that the Hungarian leader is so effusive in his admiration of Trump further helps their connection. The former president’s heart can be won over by him. During a January event in New Hampshire, Trump veered off course from his typical stump speech to praise Orbán in a manner that revealed disturbing aspects of his own agenda. His strength is the reason why some people dislike him. “Having a strong man at the head of a country is good,” Trump reflected.
Trump’s “Make America Great Again” supporters look up to Orbán as an ideological role model due to his extreme right-wing populism, harsh anti-immigration rhetoric, Christian nationalism, and animosity towards LGBTQ rights. Next month, Hungary will play host to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual meeting of Trump supporters, and he has previously addressed at this event.
While Trump is more known for his demagogic leadership style, Orbán laid the groundwork for it long before the reality star and real estate magnate entered politics. Even though his nation is an EU and NATO member, he, like Trump, has frequently acted in a way that harms the interests of western democracies. For example, he has a long history of animosity towards the European Union (EU) due to his anti-immigration policies and he delayed Sweden’s NATO membership, which was ultimately granted this week.
In a move that will have pleased Putin and further alarmed Kyiv about the consequences of a second Trump administration, Orbán backed Trump’s views on Ukraine before his meeting with the former president. According to Reuters, Orbán stated at an economic symposium on Monday that Hungary is placing its bet on the return of President Trump, describing it as “betting on the only sensible chance” rather than gambling. “Whoever is president of the United States has the best chance of bringing about a swift peace agreement on Earth.”
Republicans in the House voted down President Joe Biden’s most recent $60 billion aid proposal, and troops facing Russia on the front lines have had to cut back on ammunition due to Trump’s dislike of providing additional US aid to the country. Even before he takes office, Trump is shaping US policy in a way that benefits Putin.
At the outset of Thursday night’s State of the Union address, Biden slammed Trump for being anti-NATO and friendly with Russia’s president. According to Biden, a past Republican president of the United States told Putin, “Do whatever the hell you want.” This was in reference to a statement made by Trump, who threatened not to support NATO members unless they set expenditure goals for military spending. In a show of subservience to a Russian leader, a sitting president of the United States actually said it. That’s unfathomable. It could be harmful. That’s not acceptable.
Biden wasted little time capitalising on Orbán’s visit to Florida; his reelection campaign is based on his threat that a Trump presidency would demolish American democracy. Trump met with “Hungarian dictator Viktor Orbán, notorious for eroding his own country’s democracy and cozying up to Vladimir Putin (sound familiar?).” Biden’s team criticised Trump for this in a statement.
The contrast between Biden’s promise to fight for the preservation of democracy in his Thursday State of the Union address and Trump’s lavish reception of Orbán aptly captures the political and geopolitical juncture that the US presidential election signifies.
The thought of Trump being re-elected has many Europeans in a state of dread. On the other hand, he is welcomed back with open arms in Budapest, where he is perceived as a kindred spirit.