U.S. presidential campaigns it usually starts at the Iowa State Fair or other celebrated Americana arena. JD Vance chose Budapest. The vice president visited the Hungarian capital today to align himself in the most visible way possible with the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who is fighting to hold on to power in parliamentary elections scheduled for Sunday.
The US government’s support for Orbán was already clear. President Trump was provided “Full and Total Endorsement” on social media. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the most credible threat to Vance’s claim to the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, traveled to Budapest in February and declared, “Your success is our success.” Vance, undeniably, did not cloak his approval in diplomatic tradition. “I’m here to help him in this campaign cycle,” the vice president said from Orbán’s side. For the prime minister, it was too close to be true. He raised his hand to his face as if to stop himself from blushing.
Hungary is of little material value to the United States. It is a landlocked country of less than 10 million people that accounts for about a quarter of 1 percent of US trade. It contributes significantly to NATO, possibly the yardstick the Trump administration uses to determine the value of its European allies. But Hungary is important to Vance because it is important to the MAGA intelligentsia—the tank bosses, Substack writers, and X lobbyists who help shape the agenda of the modern Republican Party. Many of the gatekeepers of GOP values see Hungary as a model. In their minds, Orbán is showing how to throw away conservative goodies and seize state institutions to promote a certain vision of a better life, which claims Christianity as its foundation while punishing opponents including leftists, immigrants, and gender minorities. And so the Hungarian election has become the first stop of the 2028 presidential race.
The trip, which took place five days before voting began in Hungary, could not have come at a better time for Vance, whose anti-interventionist image is at odds with Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran. In Budapest, he allowed himself some distance from the president’s threats to blow up Iranian civilization out of existence. He was in his comfort zone, bringing the fear of “awakening” doctrine and leading Hungarians in a call-and-response song that opposes international institutions and reaffirms their belief in independence.
Vance appearance with Orbán in the last days of the Hungarian campaign to break with the example. US presidents and vice presidents have rarely interfered in foreign elections. Barack Obama warned against Brexit during a visit to Britain months before the 2016 referendum, saying that leaving the European Union would put the country “at the back of the queue” for trade talks. But his views did not promote a particular party or candidate. Bill Clinton visited Israel in 1996 and spoke warmly of Shimon Peres, who at the time was running against Benjamin Netanyahu. But he did not give permission. There is a long history of covert US influence in foreign elections, especially in Latin America. But part of the reason the transaction remained secret was to give White House residents a plausible deniability.
Vance obviously had no such compunctions. His intervention was made more common by his accusations that the EU, which has controlled Hungary’s economic development over the past two decades, was meddling in the vote. “What happened in the middle of the election campaign is one of the worst examples of foreign election interference I’ve ever seen or even read about,” Vance said during a press conference with Orbán. “The bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to destroy the Hungarian economy,” he said, seeking to amend the financial penalties imposed by the bloc for violations of the law such as attempts to interfere in elections. “And they’ve done it all because they hate this guy.”
Vance’s willingness to subscribe to conspiracy theories concocted by Orbán cemented the new connection. Orbán’s party, Fidesz, enjoys the support of Washington and Moscow, while many of the prime minister’s allies in the European Union, where he has blocked efforts to send aid to Ukraine, are aligned on the other side. They have not given their consent, but they are quietly hoping that Europe’s bad boy will be rejected in favor of Péter Magyar, a former Orbán loyalist who defected two years ago and now leads a new party, Tisza, which is leading in the majority of the vote.
American flags raised in Budapest for Vance’s visit was added to the landscape of the elegant city, which is full of neo-Gothic spiers and spikes. At the airport, Vance was greeted on the red carpet by Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, who was caught in a recently leaked recording vowing to help Russia deal with EU sanctions. From there, the vice president traveled to the former Catholic monastery that now houses the prime minister’s office.
Vance and Orbán spoke before the press conference to announce HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP DAY. Vance reviewed areas of bilateral cooperation, including energy, manufacturing and technology. These were less important, he said, than what he called the “moral cooperation” that ensures that people can have children, and that those children will not be taught in schools. In his statement, both governments are committed to “defending the idea that we are the foundation of a certain Christian civilization and Christian principles that animate everything from freedom of speech to the rule of law to respect for the rights of minorities and the protection of the vulnerable.”
Vance called Hungary a role model for other European Union countries, but here are some things the vice president didn’t say about how his host country treats the underprivileged. In 2023, Orbán’s government approved amnesty for a man convicted of covering up child sexual abuse. A government report published by Orbán’s opponent found that more than one in five children in state-run care institutions have been abused. The maternal mortality rate in Hungary is more than twice the European Union average. The comparison is more unfavorable for Hungary, which used to be about 30 percent richer than its neighbor Romania, according to one measure; now Romania is ahead. Those feared EU executives? They have financed almost all of Hungary’s public development projects. The the source for that figure it is not an awakened university; is the US State Department. At the same time, public contracts go out of proportion to the prime minister’s allies.
Hungary’s culture of clientelism is part of the reason some Western officials I spoke to are skeptical that Orbán could lose, despite polls showing his party trailing the opposition. Large sections of society have been made dependent on Fidesz for their well-being. Vance also minimized the possibility of losses. “Of course,” he told reporters when asked if the Trump administration would work with the opposition if it won a majority in the election. But he seemed to think there was little chance of that. “Viktor Orbán will win,” he said, turning to the prime minister and asking him, “Viktor, right?”
“That’s the plan,” Orbán replied.
Ffrom the prime minister’s office, Vance sped to the stadium on the other side of town to greet the Fidesz faithful. A retired airport accountant was waiting in line. “He came to Europe just for us,” said Marietta Sebestyén. The only ideal guest, he told me, would be Trump. His wish was granted in a short time when Vance began his speech by calling Trump from the stage and placing him on the speaker. “Mr. President, you’re dealing with about 5,000 Hungarian patriots,” Vance said. “And I think they love you even more than they love Viktor Orbán.” Trump was pleased. “I don’t believe so,” he said, before giving a brief account of Orbán’s success. “You have a man who kept your country strong, and he kept your country good,” Trump said. “And you don’t have all the problems and problems that many other countries have.”
Trump had a question for the audience: “How did JD do? Did he give a good speech, everybody?” Except that the vice president had not yet spoken. That came next, and featured his lashes up the fear of indistinct they. They get rid of the idea of nation. They refuse to give birth. They to reject Christianity. They cursing children to be cut. “They hate one person above all others, and his name is Viktor Orbán,” Vance said. “And like they hate him, it means he is on your side.”
Halfway through his speech, Vance tried to clarify his views on the continent he was visiting: “The European press is constantly asking, Do Trump and Vance have something against Europe? Let me be clear, we love Europe.” He continued, “We love his people. We love its culture. We love its beautiful architecture. And we love the incredible history of this continent. But because we love this culture and these people, we reject the faceless bureaucrats who can drive your energy costs through the roof and open your country to millions of unscreened foreigners in the name of development.
Applause followed. European officials have identified this as the bully’s logic: I hit you because I love you. Former Trump administration officials have told me differently, saying that anti-European hostility is largely an extension of internal hostility. Trump and Vance associate European leaders with their opponents in the Democratic Party, and treat them accordingly.
But if Vance sees a political opportunity in appealing to Hungarian nationalism, so does Péter Magyar. On social media, he issued a brief statement in response to Vance’s visit, saying, in part, “No foreign country can interfere in Hungary’s elections. This is our country.”
