Budapest, Hungary
The war with Iran is raging, gas prices are rising and spending battles endure on Capitol Hill. So why is the No. 2 man in the White House in Budapest?
Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Hungary this week, days ahead of the country’s national elections, is officially intended to deepen ties with the nation of 10 million. Inside Hungary, however, the visit is viewed mainly as an attempt to boost longtime Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose grip on power is facing its biggest test in years.
Endorsed by President Donald Trump and hailed as a model for the rest of Europe by US administration officials, the nationalist, pro-Russia Orbán and his party are trailing in polls behind the opposition ahead of Sunday’s contest.
Indeed, the two adminstrations have drawn so close in recent years that Orbán told reporters this period was a “golden era” of US-Hungary relations, marked by growing economic and defense cooperation.
Meanwhile, Vance underlined the “moral cooperation” between the two adminstrations, explicitly referring to the “Christian civilization and Christian values” they share at a joint press conference on Tuesday.
It’s unusual for a high-profile American official to visit a country so close to an important election, and it’s seen as a signal of the lengths the US administration is willing to go to help an embattled global ally.
But the trip also comes at a critical moment in the war with Iran: Vance will be in Hungary on Tuesday evening when Trump’s ultimatum for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — or suffer massive attacks on power plants and water facilities — expires. And Vance has recently been at the center of ongoing efforts to broker an end to the conflict, as it enters its sixth week.
Trump said the vice president “could be” involved in an in-person meeting to negotiate an end to the Iran war when reporters asked about the possibility Monday. When Vance’s trip to Hungary was announced last week, speculation mounted that he could add a stop somewhere to engage with Iranian officials.
Among administration officials, Vance has been one of the most critical of traditional American allies in Europe, claiming during a speech in Munich early in his term that leaders there were suppressing free speech, losing control of immigration and refusing to work with hard-right parties in government.
Tuesday’s visit comes amid new strains between Washington and most of Europe, as Trump has repeatedly said he’s reconsidering American commitment to NATO after leaders in the alliance refused his demands to send naval assets to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Orbán has worked assiduously to cultivate ties to Trump’s MAGA movement, which has come to share his disdain for Europe’s liberal democracies. The prime minister’s lengthy tenure has been marked by hardline immigration policies, politicization of the justice system and attacks on the press — all something of a blueprint for Trump’s own second term.
Orbán’s priorities are similar to the Trump administration’s too – he discussed “migration, gender ideology, family policy and global security” with Vance on Tuesday, he told reporters at a press conference after their meeting.
Unlike many of his European counterparts, Orbán has supported Trump’s approach towards ending Russia’s war in Ukraine — an approach many analysts say favors Moscow. The Trump administration has consistently praised that stance, and Vance reiterated that on Tuesday, claiming the “two leaders who have probably done the most to actually end that destructive conflict” are Trump and Orbán.
When Vance gave a speech in the country in support of Orbán on Tuesday, he called Trump from the podium, where the president told a sizable crowd that he’s with Orbán “all the way, the United States is with him all the way.” Trump has previously hailed Orbán as a “truly strong and powerful Leader, with a proven track record of delivering phenomenal results.”
Yet Trump’s support has not appeared to move the needle much in Hungary. Orbán has spurred rising criticism after being accused of corruption and presiding over a largely stagnant economy during his 16 years in office. Polls have shown the center-right Tisza party widening its lead over Orbán’s Fidesz over the course of the year, though many voters remain undecided, making the outcome of Sunday’s contest far from certain.
One survey from 21 Research Centre taken in late March found Tisza enjoyed support from 56% of decided voters compared to 37% who backed Fidesz. In that poll, 26% of respondents said they didn’t know who to support.
Trump has long been wary of getting behind candidates whose success is not guaranteed. While he’s posted multiple times about his endorsement of Orbán, he has not visited Budapest in the final stretch of the campaign.
Enter Vance. His Tuesday engagements in Budapest included a bilateral meeting with Orbán and a speech “on the rich partnership between the United States and Hungary.”
Seated across from Orbán at the meeting, Vance said it was lovely to be in Budapest, adding that the relationship between the two countries was very important, in large part because “the president loves you, and so do I.”
He also called Orbán “one of the only true statesmen in Europe,” and said it is “very rare you have somebody with his combination of diplomatic skill and wisdom.”
“The Vice President looks forward to visiting Hungary, a close U.S. ally, to build on the progress President Trump and Prime Minister Orbán have made on many key issues, including energy, technology, and defense,” a spokesman for Vance said earlier.
Hungarian government spokesperson Zoltán Kovács said after the stop was announced that the “visit marks an important moment in strengthening Hungarian–American relations, with high-level talks expected on security, economic cooperation, and shared strategic interests.” He did not mention the forthcoming election.
Orbán, who returned to power in 2010 and is Europe’s longest-serving prime minister, has become a lodestar for European populists and the MAGA movement in the United States. Championing national sovereignty, traditional values and hard borders, Orbán has long railed against the European Union, without seeking to leave it.
His reelection bid has been championed by figures within the global hard-right movement. In January, 11 national leaders and hard-right figureheads — including France’s Marine Le Pen, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Argentina’s Javier Milei — appeared in a video endorsing the Hungarian leader’s bid for a fifth consecutive term in office.
Vance is not the first senior US official to visit Hungary in the lead-up to the vote. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Budapest in February, offering a frank assessment of how much an Orbán victory would mean to the American administration.
“I can say to you with confidence that President Trump is deeply committed to your success, because your success is our success,” he said during his stop.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Issy Ronald and Adam Cancryn contributed to this report.
