Donald Trump is receiving some public well wishes from his friends and allies in the final days before the presidential election. On Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wished the Republican presidential nominee luck in Tuesday's contest against Vice President Kamala Harris.
"Just got off the phone with President [Trump]," the right-wing leader posted to X. "I wished him the best of luck for next Tuesday. Only five days to go. Fingers crossed."
Orbán's public support hardly comes as a surprise, the prime minister and Trump have built a close relationship over the last few years. In 2016, Orbán said a Trump presidency would be better for Europe compared to an administration led by his then-opponent Hillary Clinton.
Since leaving office, Trump has held several meetings with the nationalist leader, most recently at his Mar-a-Lago residence in July. Shortly after attending the NATO summit in Washington, Orbán made a stop in Florida to sit down with Trump, after which he posted a photo of them giving the camera a thumbs-up with the caption:
“It was an honour to visit President [Trump] at Mar-a-Lago today. We discussed ways to make #peace. The good news of the day: he’s going to solve it!”
During Trump's debate with Harris in September, the former president, known for his admiration of dictators and authoritarian leaders, name-checked Orbán and called him a "tough person" and "smart." He then went on to explain that the feeling was mutual:“Look, Viktor Orbán said it. He said, ‘The most respected, the most feared person is Donald Trump. We had no problems when Trump was president,’” Trump said on stage.
Since taking power in 2010, Orbán, the European Union’s longest-serving leader, has turned Hungary into what he describes as an "illiberal democracy": cracking down on the free press, changing the country's electoral laws to give his party an advantage, implementing a series of anti-LGBTQ+ policies and backing the racist “great replacement” theory.
Despite this, Orbán has become somewhat of a superstar among the American right. In 2022, he was invited to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas. That same year, after Orbán won re-election, GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene congratulated him on his victory in a post on social media and declared, “he’s leading Hungary the right way, and we need this in America.”
But not all Republicans are on board with Orbán. Earlier this year, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called out members of his party over what he described as a “cult of personality” around the ruler.
“Hungary’s leaders have made no secret of their conviction that the future is one of American decline,” McConnell said on the Senate floor.
“Subservience to revanchist powers is not an American value,” McConnell added. “But far more importantly, it is not in America’s interests.”