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President Donald Trump, hours away from the deadline he put on Iran to reach a deal, took a few moments on Tuesday to hail Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in an impromptu call-in to a campaign rally address by Vice President JD Vance.
“Mr. President, you are on with about 5,000 Hungarian patriots, and I think they love you even more than they love Viktor Orban,” Vance told the president in a call that blared over the speakers at the event in Hungary.
Speaking by phone to what attendees described as roughly 5,000 supporters before Sunday’s election, Trump praised Orban as “a fantastic man” who has “done a fantastic job” leading his country.
“I love Hungary and I love that Viktor, I’ll tell you,” Trump said. “He’s a fantastic man. We’ve had a tremendous relationship, and he does a job. Remember this? He didn’t allow people to storm your country and invade your country like other people have and ruin their countries.”
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“Frankly, he’s kept your country good. He’s kept Hungarian people in your country. And he’s done a fantastic job,” Trump added.
Trump credited Orban’s hard-line immigration stance with keeping Hungary “strong” and said Hungarians were “my kind of people.”
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Trump said he and the U.S. are with Orban “all the way.”
After Trump’s remarks, Vance told the crowd they had to get Orban reelected as Hungary’s prime minister.
Vance’s visit to Budapest, just days before a vote that independent polls suggest Orban might lose, underscores how crucial Trump’s “MAGA” movement deems the veteran Hungarian nationalist’s reelection.
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“It’s a real honor to talk to you: You’re really incredible people with great enthusiasm and brilliance,” Trump told the crowd to conclude brief remarks.
“Brilliant people, and I really love it. You have a man that kept your country strong and he kept your country good, and you don’t have problems with all of the problems that so many other countries have because they let their countries be invaded,” Trump added. “And you don’t have that problem because of Viktor Orban. That’s the only reason you don’t have that problem. There was a lot of pressure on him to do it, and those other countries made big mistakes. So I wish you a lot of luck and I love you all.”
Earlier, Vance lashed out at what he called “disgraceful” interference from the European Union in the Hungarian election.
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“What has happened in this country, what has happened in the midst of this election campaign, is one of the worst examples of foreign election interference that I’ve ever seen or ever even read about,” Vance told a news conference. “The bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to destroy the economy of Hungary. They have tried to make Hungary less energy-independent. They have tried to drive up costs for Hungarian consumers, and they’ve done it all because they hate this guy [Orban].”
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The visit broke with the norms of prior U.S. presidential administrations of not openly campaigning in foreign elections, especially for a government that has maintained close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Orban has maintained cordial ties with Moscow despite the Ukraine war, and says Russian energy is essential for Hungary.
Trump has already personally endorsed Orban, 62, as “a truly strong and powerful leader” and Vance lavished praise on the Hungarian prime minister’s policies on everything from energy to the war in Ukraine.
“I’m here because of the moral cooperation between our two countries, because what the United States and Hungary together represent under Viktor’s leadership and under President Trump’s leadership is the defense of Western civilization,” Vance said.
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Orban, fighting the toughest reelection bid of his career after 16 years in power, hailed what he called “a golden age” in relations between Hungary and the U.S. under Trump’s leadership.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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