Rubio boasts of ‘golden era of relations’ between US and Hungary fueled by mutual interests

The secretary told Orban that Trump is “deeply committed to your success … because your success is our success.”

“Because this relationship we have here in central Europe through you is so essential and vital for our national interests in the years to come,” he said.

Trump has broken presidential precedent by weighing in on the elections of foreign countries, including endorsing Argentine President Javier Milei, though Orban has been criticized for democratic backsliding in Hungary.

“I was proud to ENDORSE Viktor for Re-Election in 2022, and am honored to do so again,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week. “Viktor Orbán is a true friend, fighter, and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Hungary.”

Orbán has been campaigning against European military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, with Russian President Vladimir Putin among Orban’s allies, in addition to campaigning against migrants and LGBT rights, reiterating many of Trump’s own policy positions before the April 12 election.

On Monday, Rubio cited the U.S. providing Hungary a one-year exemption from Trump’s sanctions against countries that continue to purchase Russian energy despite the war as an example of the U.S. and Hungary’s close relationship.

“It is not just close rhetorically, it is close in action and things that are actually happening,” he said. “I think some evidence of that is in the agreement we have just signed that builds on a historic meeting that we had in November at the White House … The signed agreement we have had today is one that we hope will be many in the years to come.”

Rubio was in Hungary to sign a civilian nuclear program deal with Orban after attending this week’s Munich Security Conference in Germany.

In Germany, Rubio told world leaders it “is neither our goal nor our wish” for the U.S. to withdraw wholesale from Europe, adding that “our home may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe.”

EUROPE BRACES FOR RUBIO REMARKS IN MUNICH AFTER VANCE’S FIERY ADDRESS

At the same time, although Rubio’s address was delivered with more diplomacy, it conveyed a similar message to that of Vice President JD Vance last year.

“Controlling who and how many people enter our countries — this is not an expression of xenophobia,” Rubio said. “It is not hate. It is a fundamental act of national sovereignty. And the failure to do so is not just an abdication of one of our most basic duties owed to our people. It is an urgent threat to the fabric of our societies and the survival of our civilization itself.”