Andrew Puzder, the United States ambassador to the European Union, in Brussels, April 9, 2026. NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP
It was a first in the history of European integration, where Washington had long played the role of closest ally. Le Monde has learned that on April 8, the US ambassador to the European Union (EU), Andrew Puzder, was summoned by the EU diplomatic service. He was told why Vice President JD Vance's remarks, made the previous day in Budapest, were deemed unacceptable.
On April 7, speaking at a rally for Fidesz, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's party, JD Vance called for Orban's re-election, denouncing "the bureaucrats of Brussels" and condemning what he called "Brussels' interference" in the election campaign. Such language was nothing new from a man openly hostile to the EU. But this time, European leaders decided to respond.
Andrew Puzder, who took up his post in September 2025, listened politely. He did not seek to politicize the meeting, unlike the US ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, when summoned to the Quai d'Orsay at the end of February after the Trump administration's reaction to the death in Lyon of far-right activist Quentin Deranque.
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