Hungary's 'spoiler' Orbán receives long-delayed White House debut

President Trump’s hosting of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the White House on Friday provides the European leader a major platform to showcase how the two are conservative kindred spirits, but it comes as the president has soured on Budapest's embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his country’s oil exports. 

Orbán is receiving his White House debut 10 months into the president’s second term, a significant snub for one of Trump’s fiercest supporters in the world. 

It’s a consequential meeting for Orbán, who is asking Trump to provide Hungary with an exemption to continue importing Russian oil not subject to punishing U.S. sanctions. 

Orbán succeeded in receiving Trump’s endorsement for what is shaping up to be competitive parliamentary elections in April. He’s not likely to face any pressure from the U.S. over his undemocratic practices, including weaponizing the justice system to go after political opponents and critics; unfair practices in elections; failure to meaningfully tackle corruption, and undermining freedom of speech. 

A White House spokesperson said Trump and Orbán have "a good relationship" and will talk over areas "of mutual interest."

“The American people can expect more good deals out of Prime Minister Orban’s visit spanning various industries – stay tuned!" the White House said.

But Orbán is coming to the White House with largely empty hands, a series of asks and not much to offer. 

“From a Hungarian perspective and especially from the governing party’s perspective, the fact that it takes place is really significant and it will be, no matter what, framed as a massive political success,” said Zsuzsanna Végh, program officer of Transatlantic Trusts with the German Marshall Fund.

“But from an American perspective in terms of political and economic relevance, Orbán, I believe is not as important as the Hungarians like to say and to portray it.”

Top of the list is an exemption for Hungary to continue importing Russian oil, at risk of possible secondary sanctions from Trump’s decision to blacklist Russia’s two major oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. 

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said Wednesday that Budapest is looking to secure in Washington an “economic and energy cooperation package” that is based on “long-term energy security for Hungary,” U.S. investments creating jobs and a “stable financial framework to support these goals.”

Hungary is looking to purchase nuclear fuel from the U.S. for its nuclear plant. Although Szijjártó said Budapest is not likely to adjust its nuclear fuel purchases from Russia, Reuters reported. 

Trump has signaled openness to Hungary’s request on Russian oil, telling reporters last month that Budapest is at a disadvantage because of its lack of access to the sea and is “sort of stuck because it has one pipeline,” delivering energy from Russia. 

“Orbán, I think, may be Trump's closest friends among foreign leaders. … Trump remembers his friends, and Orbán is aware of that,” said Fred Fleitz, vice chair of the America First Policy Institute’s American Security program and who served as chief of staff of the National Security Council and deputy assistant to Trump in his first term. 

Fleitz pointed out Orbán’s support for Trump throughout his presidential campaigns in the U.S., being the first foreign leader to endorse Trump and visit his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after the president announced his third campaign. 

Fleitz also suggested Orbán could sell himself as a key ally in Trump’s push for his peace plan in the Gaza Strip, in countering what he described as dangerous moves by other European countries to recognize a Palestinian state and support the Palestinian Authority taking over governance in the Gaza Strip. 

Orbán “could be a powerful voice in EU meetings and stop EU decorations and resolutions because they have to be unanimous,” Fleitz said. 

But it’s not yet clear if that friendship is strong enough to disrupt Trump’s major gamble on sanctioning Russian oil. 

“Trump is pretty determined to stop nations from importing energy from Russia, so I think there's going to be some discussions about finding some alternate sources for Hungary, but in the short term Orbán would like to see some exemptions for those purchases,” Fleitz said. 

A group of bipartisan senators on Thursday introduced a resolution calling on all remaining European countries, singling out Hungary, to fully end their dependence on Russian energy and close remaining loopholes that continue to fund Putin's war against Ukraine. 

“Vladimir Putin is a war criminal who uses Russia’s energy exports to fund his campaign of murder and aggression,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said in a statement. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), John Curtis (R-Utah) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) also signed on to the measure with six Democrats. 

Hungary’s critics say Budapest’s position is self-inflicted and a feature of its pro-Kremlin positioning, failing to take steps like European countries in similar situations to diversify its energy. Budapest faces a 2027 deadline under a European Union law to get off Russian energy completely. 

And Trump has increasingly grown frustrated with Putin’s refusal to halt his more than three-year, full-scale war in Ukraine. Orbán has maintained enmity toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and blamed Europe’s support for Kyiv as prolonging the war. 

Ukraine will be a major part of the agenda, but Orbán is viewed as a spoil sport in Europe: opposed to military support for Ukraine, blocking the EU from reimbursing countries that send military equipment to Ukraine, standing in the way of Ukraine’s accession to the EU, and continuing to fill the Kremlin’s coffers with purchases of Russian oil. 

Orbán’s offer for Budapest to serve as a meeting ground for a second, face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin still stands — a meeting that Trump called off because he didn’t view the Russian leader as serious about coming to an agreement to end the war. 

“That summit is happening. Take it as fact,” Orbán said last month during a trip to the Vatican, adding that he is trying to rally Slovakia and Czechia — both with large, right-wing political constituencies — in joining Budapest’s position. 

Ukraine’s supporters are consistently wary of Orbán but aren’t expending too much energy to protect against his visit to the White House, buoyed by the daylight between Budapest and the White House, given Trump’s increasing frustration with Putin. 

“The White House should be clear-eyed about the fact that, despite Trump’s chumminess with Orbán, he has been the roadblock to the action the United States is demanding from Europe,” James Batchik, an associate director at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, wrote in a recent article.

“The Trump team should press Orbán to stop playing spoiler and allow Europe to take the meaningful action it needs to as Ukraine’s biggest backer.”