W
ith friends like these, who needs enemies? Barely ousted, Viktor Orban gauged the ingratitude of his powerful foreign "friends." The Hungarian prime minister was surely expecting a gesture of sympathy from Donald Trump after his devastating electoral defeat on April 12. He waited in vain.
But Trump's Truth Social account remained surprisingly silent. After 48 hours, Trump finally conceded, after being questioned by an ABC reporter, "He's a good man." But he was speaking about Péter Magyar, the victor.
"I think the new man's going to do a good job," continued Trump, justifying the restraint of his comment by claiming he "was not involved" in the Hungarian election, before adding: "Viktor's a good man, though." That was still more generous than the repudiation from Moscow, where Orban had traveled twice since the start of the large-scale war in Ukraine to meet with Vladimir Putin: "We have never been friends with Orban," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov curtly stated on Tuesday, April 14.
US Vice President JD Vance and outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, April 7, 2026. JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS
