TWO BIT WANNABE TYRANTS

Friends: Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán


Euractiv.com with AFP

US President Donald J. Trump speaks to the media as he meets with the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Mihaly Orban at the White House, Washington, DC, USA, 13 May 2019. [EPA-EFE/Chris Kleponis / POOL]
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is certainly no poster child for democracy in Europe and most Americans have never heard of him, but he does have at least one fan in the United States: Donald Trump.

Trump cited the authoritarian nationalist Orbán as a character witness during the former US president’s televised debate Tuesday with Vice President Kamala Harris.

While Harris told Trump to his face that he is the laughing stock of world leaders, Trump hit back and cited Orbán’s support for him.

“Let me just say about world leaders, Viktor Orbán, one of the most respected men,” Trump said.

“They call him a strongman,” the Republican added. “He’s a tough person, smart, prime minister of Hungary. They said, why is the whole world blowing up? Three years ago it wasn’t. Why is it blowing up? He said, because you need Trump back as president.”

This was not the first time Trump has praised Orbán and the support he gets from the Hungarian leader.

Meeting of the minds as Trump receives Orban
US President Donald Trump on Monday (13 May) praised Hungary’s hardline authoritarian Viktor Orbán as a leader respected throughout Europe who kept his country safe with his crackdown on immigration.

“Viktor Orbán has done a tremendous job in so many different …

They are strikingly similar men, both fancying themselves tough on immigration, for instance.

The United States and other Western countries have repeatedly slammed Orbán’s record on freedom of expression and religion, and on human rights, particularly those of LGBT people.

Very few world leaders are openly pro-Trump and many European officials have said publicly they dread a second Trump term in the White House.

When Trump survived an assassination attempt on July 13 during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Orbán was among the first leaders to call and wish him well.

‘Flattery and favors’

Trump and Orbán are so snugly in sync that the slogan of Hungary’s current six-month presidency of the European Union is “Make Europe Great Again,” a play on Trump’s MAGA jingle for America.

Hungary’s plan to 'make Europe great again' begins

“Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer” is a saying that feels particularly relevant in Brussels as Hungary prepares to take over the presidency of the European Council—one of the EU’s most crucial brokering positions—in less than a week.

The two are clearly fond of one another and have been meeting more and more.

Their last encounter was on the sidelines of a NATO summit in July, when Orbán traveled to see Trump at his Mar-a-Lago luxury estate in Florida. Orbán went there in March, too.

The July visit came at the end of an Orbán trip to Kyiv, Moscow and China, a mission aimed at finding a way to end the war in Ukraine. It included a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, who is accused of war crimes stemming from the 2022 invasion that started the war.

This meeting infuriated European leaders who accused Orbán of conducting rogue diplomacy, ignoring EU policy.

EU's Michel blasts Orbán as row over Hungary's diplomatic push on Ukraine intensifies

European Council President Charles Michel issued a stinging reply to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Tuesday (16 July) to “set the record straight” on his rogue diplomacy over Ukraine, as the EU’s boycott of meetings under the country’s EU presidency continues to widen.

Orbán is close to Russia, and is a critic of Western sanctions against it and of aid to Ukraine. He opposes Ukraine’s desire to join the European Union.

Trump has said that if he is reelected he can end the war in a day.

During Tuesday’s debate, Harris attacked what she called Trump’s bloated ego. “It is absolutely well known that these dictators and autocrats are rooting for you to be president again because they’re so clear, they can manipulate you with flattery and favors,” she said.