Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed his support for Donald Trump on Monday, tweeting an image of the two men shaking hands and accompanying the photo with the words “Keep on fighting, Mr. President! We are with you, @realDonaldTrump.”
Orban is one of a handful of European leaders with whom Trump struck up a warm relationship during his presidency, with Trump giving the Hungarian leader the highest form of praise possible at a meeting in 2019, saying that Orban was “probably like me.”
The prime minister has not shied away from tweeting at his conservative comrade from across the Atlantic from time to time, seemingly ignoring the implications regarding Budapest’s relations with Washington and the current US president, Joe Biden.
Last year, Trump endorsed Orban ahead of Hungary’s parliamentary elections, saying the prime minister had his “complete support.” Orban, who joined Twitter only last October, returned the favor in a meme tweet, writing shortly after joining the social media platform that there was “one question” on his mind – “where is my good friend, @realDonald Trump?”
Trump’s Twitter account was restored after a nearly two-year-long permaban was lifted by new Twitter boss Elon Musk in November, but Trump has yet to post, preferring his own platform – Truth Social.
Orban has used his Twitter presence to post a series of mostly English-language messages addressed to international audiences, including Hungary’s position on the conflict in Ukraine, photos from meetings with European leaders, and Budapest’s viewpoints at EU venues.
Monday’s tweet earned Orban praise from Trump’s supporters, but sparked outrage among liberals and Trump-haters, who castigated the Hungarian leader and Trump as “bad people” and “two Russophile homophobic racist hate spreaders grinning at the world.”
Orban’s show of support comes a day before Trump’s expected arraignment at a New York court on about three dozen federal charges related to the alleged illegal payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels, an ex-porn star, ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing, called his accuser a “horseface,” accused her of extortion, and charged the New York district attorney of going after him to try to knock him out of the 2024 race on false pretenses, similar to Russiagate or his twin failed impeachments. The former president has vowed to fight the charges. He is expected to give public remarks on the case from his Mar-a-Lago estate hours after his arraignment.