Putin Ally Orban Says He and Donald Trump Have ‘Big Plans’

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, considered an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, says he has “big plans” with President-elect Donald Trump after the Republican completed his political comeback on Tuesday.
While Orbán has often been criticized as authoritarian, Trump has praised him for being “a great man” who some dislike because he is “too strong.” During his September 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump argued that Orbán was one of the “most respected men” in the world.
Last week, CBS News reported that Orbán had been working behind the scenes to help get Trump reelected and speculated that mutual admiration between the leaders “could become a defining foreign policy relationship for a second Trump term.”
On Wednesday, just hours after Trump defeated Harris to win a second term in the White House, Orbán said that he had already spoken to the president-elect and was expecting to chart the course of “the future” alongside Trump.
“Mar-a-Lago calling,” Orbán wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Just had my first phone conversation with President @realDonaldTrump since the elections. We have big plans for the future!”
Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump’s office via email on Wednesday.
“The biggest comeback in US political history!” Orbán wrote in a previous post to X. “Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on his enormous win. A much needed victory for the World!”
Orbán also praised the end of “the long wait” and celebrated that Trump was “back” in an additional post that included a video the president-elect repeatedly praising him.
U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman denounced Orbán for “gambling” on the election and Trump during remarks at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Budapest.
“Prime Minister Orbán treated this election like a card game at a casino,” Pressman said. “And he placed a very big bet. Whether he believes that he won or lost this hand, he was gambling not with money but with the U.S.-Hungary relationship. A relationship that has been altered by his gamesmanship.
“The damage caused runs deeper than a four-year term of a president, because it is rooted in an impulse to transform something big and lasting, a relationship between allies—between strong nations—into something smaller and fleeting.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who continues lead the effort to fend off Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, congratulated Trump “on his impressive election victory” in an X post early on Wednesday morning, while recalling a “great meeting” on plans to “put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine” with Trump in September.
Zelensky also announced on Wednesday that he would be visiting Hungary the following day and meeting with Orbán for the first time since Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022. He said that the meeting would include a discussion on “security challenges in Europe and new opportunities for all partners,” according to Ukrainska Pravda.
Update 11/6/24, 7:30 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.