The rules of world trade have changed with the arrival of Donald Trump as US President and Europe has been caught napping, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán said on Tuesday.
The controversial Orban, one of few world leaders Trump has always cited as a friend and able leader, said on X that the European Union can't get away from the “Trump tornado” and Europe will face difficult times ahead.
“Yesterday we held the first EU-summit in Brussels since President Trump was inaugurated. It was a strange gathering. Everyone in Brussels can see the Trump tornado coming, but most still think they can get away from it. They won't,” Orban wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
The Hungarian PM referred to the flurry of executive orders signed by Trump that have upended Washington DC and the world at large.
“In 14 days, Donald Trump has already turned the world upside down with a few measures. The gender madness in America is over, the financing of globalist Soros organizations is over, illegal migration is over, and support for the Russian-Ukrainian war is also over. In other words, everything that the bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to force down our throats in recent years is over.” Orban wrote.
He added: “But there is something else here. We can also say goodbye to the rules of world trade as we know them. President Trump will stand up for American interests, even against Europe. The European Union faces difficult months ahead and the bureaucrats in Brussels are going to have a tough time.
“We need to make an agreement, a deal, to preserve our economic relations with the United States. And a really good deal can be made by those who not only know but also respect each other,” Orban wrote.
Earlier, in November 2024, Balazs Orban, the Hungarian PM’s political director, had told Bloomberg that Trump's “America first” mentality was something that European countries could adopt.
Orban ended his post on a hopeful note, saying that negotiations were on and a good deal with the US would be made.
Orban has been the Prime Minister of Hungary since 2010 and is known for having similar views to those of Trump, such as throttling a liberal ecosystem, restriction on immigration and suppressing LGBTQ+ voices.
In the presidential debate in September 2024, when Democratic candidate Kamala Harris alleged that world leaders laugh at Trump, he had cited Orban,.
“Let me just say about world leaders, Viktor Orbán, one of the most respected men, they call him a strong man. He's a tough person. Smart prime minister of Hungary. They said, Why is the whole world blowing up? He said, ‘Because you need Trump back as president. They were afraid of him. China was afraid.’ And I don't like to use the word afraid, but I'm just quoting him.” Trump had said.
In a report in February last year, the BBC had written about Orban: “Since 2010, he has transformed Hungary into what the European Parliament has denounced as a "hybrid regime of electoral autocracy". He appears uncertain how to describe his own invention, trying both "illiberal democracy" and "Christian liberty".”
