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Loser Trump also rejected in Orban's big election loss: expert

Hungary’s most consequential election in decades has just delivered an important victory for democracy and accountability.

For Hungarians, opposition leader Péter Magyar’s emphatic defeat of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his ruling Fidesz Party ends 16 years of corruption and quasi-authoritarianism.

The outcome will also be felt widely, from Moscow to Washington and beyond.

In a contest characterised as a referendum on whether Hungary should pivot west or continue its authoritarian drift, Magyar’s victory is a stern rebuke to the dark, transnational forces of nativism, division and the politics of resentment that have become part of mainstream political discourse.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the election was not the turnout (more than 74%, shattering previous records), or even the result (a two-thirds supermajority for Magyar’s Tisza party, winning at least 138 of 199 parliamentary seats).

Both had been predicted for some time, and Orbán’s soft authoritarianism had always left the door ajar for a possible opposition victory at the polls.

Rather, the biggest surprise might have been Orbán’s immediate concession. He didn’t try to manufacture a crisis or use his security services to hold onto power. Given the strength of anti-government sentiment in Hungary, such a move could have led to a “colour revolution” – the type of massive street protests seen previously in Ukraine, Georgia and other countries.

This could have turned bloody. Liberal Hungarians, and the European Union more broadly, will be heaving a collective sigh of relief.

Why Orbán was suddenly vulnerable

Having won office, Magyar will need to move quickly but also carefully to bring change, so as not to alienate too many former Fidesz voters.

He has already asked President Tamaś Sulyok to resign, along with other Orbán loyalists. The Tisza supermajority in parliament is important here. It will be required for constitutional amendments to dismantle the architecture of Orbán’s authoritarian state.

Fortunately, this will be easier in Hungary than fully fledged autocratic systems. Indeed, Orbán’s longevity can somewhat be attributed to the fact that his brand of authoritarianism was only partial.

Certainly, it had the structural elements of an autocracy. That included widespread, government-controlled gerrymandering to ensure Fidesz victories, and the cynical diversion of state funds to cities and provinces controlled by Orbán’s political allies.

In addition, the nationalised media ecosystem was heavily supportive of the government, although alternative voices kept debate alive via foreign-owned news organisations.

But Orbán’s success also came from facing weak and easily fragmented or coopted oppositions. Magyar – a former Orbán ally – ran a disciplined campaign that nullified the electoral advantage for Fidesz.

Ultimately, though, when voters have a choice – even a constrained one – they will eventually reject governments that rely on blame and victimhood to mask their inability to offer people a better future.

Under Orbán, Hungary was consistently ranked the most corrupt nation in Europe. In 2025, it ranked last in the EU on relative household wealth. It had also suffered rampant inflation and economic stagnation after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Video footage of country estates built by Hungary’s elites, complete with zebras roaming the grounds, perfectly symbolised the popular outrage with wealth inequality.

A setback for Putin, Trump and right-wing populism

Hungary’s new start also sends a powerful message to other nations. Clearly the biggest loser from the election is Vladimir Putin’s Russia, which had hastily tapped Kremlin powerbroker Sergey Kiriyenko and a team of “political technologists” to assist Orbán.

Under Orbán, Hungary was the strongest pro-Kremlin voice in the EU. It regularly stymied aid packages for Ukraine, tied up decision-making on the war in bureaucratic processes, and held the European Commission to ransom by threatening hold-out votes.

In fact, just days before the election, Bloomberg published a transcript of a phone call between Orbán and Putin from October 2025, in which Orbán compared himself to a mouse helping free the caged Russian lion.

This came on the back of revelations that Orbán’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, and other Hungarian officials had regularly been leaking confidential EU discussions to Moscow.

Another loser from the Hungarian election is the Trump White House.

The pre-election Budapest visit by US Vice President JD Vance to shore up support for Orbán was breathtakingly hypocritical. Vance farcically demanded an end to foreign election meddling, while engaging in precisely that. The White House then doubled down, with Trump promising on Truth Social to aid Orbán with the “full Economic Might of the United States”.

Now, though, Trump is very publicly on the losing side. And like the debacle of his Iran war, he tends to chafe at losing.

The election also shows that US foreign interference campaigns are not invulnerable, though the White House will doubtless continue excoriating Europe. The Trump administration’s view that Europe is heading for “civilisational erasure”, necessitating US efforts to “cultivate resistance” and “help Europe correct its current trajectory” is documented in its 2025 National Security Strategy.

But the broader movements representing what Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar calls the “Putinisation of global politics” have been repudiated by Hungary’s election result.

Under Orbán, Hungary was a hub for ultraconservative voices. Think tanks like the MAGA-boosting US Heritage Foundation and Hungary’s Danube Institute regularly held prominent dialogues bemoaning Europe’s capitulation to wokeism.

The Hungarian iteration of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), sponsored by the American Conservative Union, was a key calendar for Western right-wing politicians and commentators, including former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

China will also be keenly watching Magyar’s new government, especially since it has viewed Hungary as a soft entry point to the EU. The large-scale investment in electric vehicle manufacturing, especially battery production, are part of a growing Chinese business footprint in the country.

For Beijing, the question will be whether Magyar seeks to sacrifice this lucrative investment to burnish his European credentials.

What about the winners?

In addition to Hungarians outside Orbán’s orbit of elites, the EU will welcome the news that it remains an attractive force.

Ukraine, too, may find it easier to secure European assistance. At the very least, smaller Ukraine detractors like Slovakia will have to choose between acquiescing quietly or thrusting themselves uncomfortably into the open.

Yet, although Hungary’s result is promising, the world is still trending towards illiberalism.

And with the US midterm elections fast approaching, far-right American politicians, including Trump himself, will be studying Hungary’s lessons closely. If they conclude that Orbán’s brand of authoritarianism was too soft, a more hardline path looms as an ominous alternative.The Conversation

Matthew Sussex, Associate Professor (Adj), Griffith Asia Institute; and Fellow, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Trump 'crashing out' over Orban loss: 'He can't handle the truth'

On Sunday, far-right Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban was voted out of office after 16 years of dictatorial rule. His defeat not only spelled significant change for the nation of Hungary, but was widely interpreted as a major blow against far-right movements around the world, including MAGA in the United States. As a result, President Donald Trump is “crashing out” in the face of a bad sign for his authoritarian political project.

Following Orban’s loss, Trump — usually not shy about sharing his thoughts on any subject — declined to answer questions from reporters about the election, making a quick escape to board Air Force One. Many who watched this exit online were struck by the typically wordy president’s lack of response.

"You can tell he’s so close to crashing out lmao,” wrote one commenter on a NewsNation broadcast of the moment. "He can't handle the truth," said another, with a third still declaring, "LOL. This has been a week of huge losses in the life of this big loser."

It may seem strange for an American president to hang so much importance on a Hungarian election, but not only has Orban been a longtime “illiberal” ally of Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he had become something of a superstar within the MAGA movement, garnering headline appearances at events like CPAC due to the popularity of his conservative, anti-immigrant, authoritarian policies within the Republican Party.

Orban’s election or lack thereof was viewed as so symbolically vital to MAGA that Vice President JD Vance was sent to Hungary during the final days of the race in an attempt to help build support. Vance’s appearance did not have the desired effect, as Orban’s party was defeated by a landslide.

For many within the MAGA-sphere, the rise of figures like Orban and Trump has been embraced as a signal of the growing power of the far-right movement and its righteous if not outright fated assumption of power around the globe. But Orban’s loss suggests that history is not as inevitable as they thought.

As Ivan Krastev, chair of the Center for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Bulgaria, explained, Orban’s loss will have “an incredible psychological impact” on the far-right. Or as Orban biographer Pal Daniel Renyi put it, the election is proof to Orban, Trump, and their followers that “nothing lasts forever.”

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'Make you great again' while we steal everything: How despots use racism as distraction

Podcasters Danielle Moodie and Wajahat Ali took time on Wednesday to examine the kind of devastating things that racism can do to a democracy.

It can kill it for a start, particularly when it’s used as tool by authoritarians.

Ali referenced Vice President JD Vance’s recent trip to Hungary to support Hungarian authoritarian leader Viktor Orban, who ransacked his former democratic nation to make himself almost impossible to remove despite colossal disapproval from his impoverished voters.

“[Orban] took over and replaced the judiciary. Took over and replaced the government. Took over and replaced the arts. And meanwhile, guess what happened? He fed them chum,” said Ali. “‘I'm going to make you great again. You know who the real problem is? The Muslims. You know who the real problem is? The Jews. You know who the real problem is? The immigrants.’ And while he was distracting them with hate and xenophobia, guess what? Tell me if this sounds familiar. Orban and his friends raped and pillaged, took all the resources and all the wealth.”

Moodie referenced comparisons to similar enrichment schemes by the family of President Donald Trump, who have reaped billions in new wealth as Trump distracts MAGA with racism and xenophobia, according to critics.

“Donald Trump's sons, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, invested money in what? A drone company — right before the war began,” said Moodie. “Barron bought oil stocks right before the war began. This is a f—— grift at the expense of people's lives.”

But the ride doesn’t always last forever, said Ali, pointing out that after roughly a decade, Hungarians are out in the streets protesting.

“[Hungarians are saying] ‘wait a second. We think we've been lied to. Wait a second. You didn't make us great again. You made yourself and your rich friends great again. And because this power of Orban is finally very fragile now and people are p—— off."

"But who's gone all in [for Orban," demanded Ali. "Look at the same characters. Who went last week? Netanyahu's son. Who praised Orban? Netanyahu. Who went this week? JD Vance.”

"It's a big club. It's a big club, and you ain't in it. And we're seeing it in real time," said Ali.

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Revealed: Trump's favorite European leader offered help to Iran

Despite the adoration President Viktor Orbán's far-right government gets from American conservatives and U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a new report from the Washington Post, Hungary reached out to offer help to Iran after a major attack in late 2024.

The incident in question took place in September 2024 and saw Israel cause "thousands" of pagers owned by the militant group Hezbollah to explode. Hezbollah is designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist group, with Iran being its main sponsor. The explosions ultimately killed 12 people and left as many as 2,800 injured.

In a report released Wednesday morning, the Post revealed correspondence between Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in which he pledged that Hungary would aid Iran in the wake of the pager attack. This was based on "a copy of a Hungarian government transcript of the Sept. 30 call obtained and authenticated by a Western intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post."

"Our secret service has already contacted your services and we will share all the information we have gathered during the investigation," Szijjarto told Araghchi during the phone call. "Every possible document will be shared with your services."

Hungary had been implicated in the attack, in a way, after the "Taiwanese company whose brand was on the devices had told reporters they were manufactured by a Hungarian company under a licensing agreement." Szijjarto stressed to his Iranian counterpart that Hungary had not been involved with the attack in any way.

"But the call — and Szijjarto’s apparent readiness to curry favor with Iran’s foreign minister — pose uncomfortable questions about the Orban government’s relationship with Iran at a time when the Trump administration is locked in conflict with Tehran while at the same time the White House is providing support to Orban’s reelection campaign in a high-stakes election," the Post explained.

Hungary's government has been widely considered to be a dictatorship since Orbán ascended to power in 2010, and the leader himself has been described by many as a puppet of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite those criticisms, he has nonetheless become a darling of the global far-right political movement, including the MAGA movement in the U.S., with conservatives closely studying the tactics he used to consolidate power and take control of Hungarian media outlets, tactics which the second Trump administration has attempted to emulate. Trump has also enthusiastically endorsed Orbán as he faces dwindling reelection odds in the upcoming Hungarian election, lagging in polls behind a center-right opponent.

"Orban’s government has been a bastion of support for the MAGA movement with Orban at the forefront of efforts to present a Christian nationalist front against migrants across Europe, while at the same time aligning himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin," the Post's report added.

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Inside the election that could spell the end of MAGA

On Friday, much of the news was focused on peace negotiations with Iran, with Vice President JD Vance heading to Pakistan to lead the U.S. delegation. But many Americans might not be aware of where Vance just left: an election in Hungary that, according to renowned historian Timothy Snyder, could herald the end of the MAGA movement.

On Sunday, Hungary will hold parliamentary elections that will determine whether Viktor Orban — the country’s current prime minister, who has ruled with an increasingly iron fist since 2010 — will retain or be removed from power. A star of the international far-right, Orban has famously turned Hungary into an “illiberal” democracy in which elections theoretically exist but are not fair, and where the state and social functions are dominated by “oligarcho-fascism.”

Orban’s successful quest for personal power, one-party rule, and strict conservative social controls has made him a revered figure among the American far right, aligning him with President Donald Trump, Vance, and the GOP, and garnering him top billing at CPAC. So intertwined have the political right of the U.S. and Hungary become, that Vance just appeared at a series of Orban’s campaign rallies, hoping to energize the authoritarian’s flagging electoral support.

Like Trump and Vance, Orban believes in the “politics of eternity,” in which one man rules indefinitely. And while he is “good at the politics of endless grievance,” Hungarians are aware that their standard of living has fallen under his leadership, and of the rampant corruption and crumbling institutions that plague the nation. Then the country’s right-wing party was hit by a child sex abuse and cover-up scandal, and quiet dissent erupted into massive public protest. As a result, a new opposition party soared in popularity, and it now appears that Orban could lose.

Snyder points out that not only would this mean the loss of one of Trump’s most important global allies and evidence that illiberal policies don’t work, but it could also herald the end of MAGA.

“The most important consequence for Trump and to Vance of Orbán’s defeat would be the revelation that history is not in fact going in a single direction,” writes Snyder, “that their power, or the power of people like them, is not assured for all time.”

A central aspect of the far-right mentality is the idea that its authoritarian mission is somehow destined to be.

“In their view of themselves,” says Snyder, “they are not of course the creatures of historical structure: the power of oil money; the psychology of social media, the perversion of wealth inequality. As they see matters, they are beyond history now, beyond historical change, beyond the actions of the peoples in whose name they rule.”

But such a major loss would reveal the fallacy of this ideology. The far-right, MAGA, and leaders like Orban, Trump, and Vance do not represent the “end of history” as they would like to think.

“They are wrong,” writes Snyder. “History goes on. Just as Hungary once offered the international oligarchical far right the confidence that a formula had been found, it now offers to men such as Vance and Trump the anxiety that voting might actually make a difference, that democracy might actually turn out to be more than a slogan, that unpredictable change is still possible, that the future is open.”

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Key Trump ally may be headed for defeat

Although far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán draws scathing criticism from a combination of Democrats and right-wing Never Trump conservatives, he is an icon to the MAGA movement. U.S. President Donald Trump considers Orbán a valuable ally, and other MAGA Republicans — from "War Room" host Steve Bannon to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to Arizona's Kari Lake — routinely praise him as a role model for "illiberal democracy." And the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has featured Orbán at their events.

Never Trumper Mona Charen, a veteran conservative columnist who worked in the Reagan White House during the 1980s, considers pro-Orbán Republicans "useful idiots" and compares them to Americans leftists who praised Cuban dictator Fidel Castro during the 1960s and 1970s.

In Hungary's April 12 parliamentary elections, Orbán's leadership will either be retained or rejected. And he is getting a glowing endorsement from Trump, who praised him as a "fantastic guy." Trump, on his Truth Social platform, wrote, "Viktor Orbán is a true friend, fighter, and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Hungary."

But European journalist/author Gellert Tamas, in an op-ed published by The Guardian on March 24, lays out some reasons why Orbán may finally be defeated in April.

"Orbán, a long-term friend and ally of Trump, may need all the support he can gather ahead of the Hungarian parliamentary elections on 12 April," Tamas explains. "The prime minister and his Fidesz party are trailing in most opinion polls. His main challenger, Péter Magyar, and his Tisza party are leading by nearly 10 percentage points. The public debate in Hungary has shifted dramatically: the question is no longer whether the opposition can win, but whether Orbán will accept defeat."

Tamas emphasizes that the "significance" of the April 12 elections "extends far beyond" Hungary and has implications for far-right nationalist figures around the world, from Trump to France's Marine Le Pen to Alice Weidel (co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative für Deutschland, or AfD, party).

"Despite the new nationalist international's endless rhetoric about the primacy of the 'nation' and devotion to their 'own people,' the struggle against the liberal state remains its overriding priority," Tamas argues. "Its determination to preserve and strengthen its own authoritarian rule will always trump any professed concern for the rights of a particular national community. It is this authoritarian reflex that may ultimately cost Orbán the upcoming Hungarian elections — and, with them, his position as a leading figure of the global authoritarian, nationalist rightwing populist movement."

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McConnell takes 'victory lap' to Fox News after Trump ally's brutal defeat

Sen. Mitch McConnell on Monday wrote a new op-ed for Fox News, blasting President Donald Trump and others in the GOP for their admiration of outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, with one journalist calling the piece his "victory lap."

Orbán has served as the prime minister of Hungary since 2010, ushering in a staunchly far-right and anti-democratic government that many on the international stage decried as a dictatorship. Over the weekend, however, his reign was toppled when his party took a decisive loss from the opposition, ushering in new leadership in the form of Péter Magyar.

This loss was seen as especially damaging for the global far-right movement and MAGA in particular, as Orbán's tactics for consolidating the government and clinging to power were widely seen as a template for far-right political movements. The Trump administration was so invested in maintaining Orbán's power that Vice President JD Vance was dispatched to Hungary to campaign for him, though his arrival appeared to have the opposite of the intended effect.

In the wake of the landslide loss, McConnell, the former GOP Senate majority leader and increasingly vocal Trump critic, published a piece for Fox News celebrating the development, citing Orbán's overt deference to Russia and Vladimir Putin, as well as his close ties to the likes of China and Iran. He also took the opportunity to excoriate those in his party who showed deep admiration for the Hungarian leader.

"[For] the better part of a decade, Hungarian politics has persisted as an object of intense fascination in certain corners of the American right," McConnell wrote. "This phenomenon is endlessly puzzling. America’s self-proclaimed national conservatives spoke of Orban’s Hungary as an oasis of traditionalism amid the wasteland of an ailing, liberal and decadent postmodern Europe. And some American politicians appear to have bought into the myth."

He continued: "To be clear, it is a myth. Orban’s champions on this side of the Atlantic may well consider his illiberal court-packing, crony capitalism or restriction of free speech an acceptable price for their desired social utopia. Yet for all the talk of reviving faith and family through statist intervention, Hungary’s religious participation and birth rates under his rule have declined right alongside the rest of the West."

McConnell further ripped the outgoing prime minister for his "fawning servitude to authoritarians," which he said ran "counter to American values." He also ripped members of the American right for their degree of fixation on Hungary as a political partner, arguing that the Eastern European nation offered "little in the way of strategic alignment" or "moral cooperation," and that the biggest shared value now between the U.S. and Hungary is the "the right to choose our own leaders, freely and fairly, without foreign or domestic interference," praising Hungarian's for their "distaste for the crony capitalism and corruption that have weakened Hungary’s economy and the image of its ruling party." He further noted that Magyar, himself a former member of Orbán's party and considered center-right politically, is unlikely to shift Hungary into a bastion of liberal politics.

"Watching this from Kentucky, it is hard to understand how some on the American right thought that staking U.S. influence on the outcome of a parliamentary election in a small, central European country was putting America’s interests first," McConnell concluded. "To the extent that what happens in Hungary matters to America, it is a question of whether its actions on the world stage — not its social policies — align with America’s strategic interests."

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Top Trump official ‘said the quiet part out loud’ about MAGA takeover

Brenda Carr, head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under President Donald Trump, "said the quiet part out loud" during a recent discussion of the MAGA takeover of mass media at CPAC, per a new analysis from MS NOW.

Writing in a piece published Tuesday, MS NOW senior editor Anthony L. Fisher said that Carr "may be the most try-hard" out of all the "sycophants" in Trump's orbit, something he lived down to while speaking at last week's CPAC in Texas, where he "unwittingly admitted that the administration’s goal is the Orbanization of America, and that he takes pride in trying to make that happen." Fisher made reference to the far-right Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, whose consolidation of power was infamously helped along by wealthy allies acquiring media outlets and squashing negative coverage.

Carr brought up various examples of longstanding news outlets either getting their funding slashed or coming under the control of Trump's conservative allies, with Fisher noting that "because Carr is arguably the most eager-to-please attack poodle in Trump’s kennel, he couldn’t help but reveal what MAGA considers 'winning.'"

“Look at the results so far. PBS defunded. NPR defunded,” Carr said. “[Stephen] Colbert is leaving. CBS is under new ownership. And soon enough, CNN is going to have new ownership as well.”

"It’s obvious why Carr, a hyperpartisan culture warrior, would consider these 'wins,'" Fisher wrote. "And his assessment matches the zero-sum Trump worldview: Somebody wins, somebody loses. Still, a more savvy player would have hidden the ball a little better. The defunding of PBS and NPR were done for nakedly political purposes (Trump’s executive order was literally called 'Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media'), but in crediting Trump for the upheaval at CBS and CNN, Carr blew off the flimsy facade that the changes were strictly made for business and journalistic reasons."

By way of acquisitions of their parent companies, Paramount and Warner Bros., both CBS News and, in the near future, CNN, have come under the control of Skydance's David Ellison, the son of ultra-wealthy Trump donor Larry Ellison. While Ellison has insisted that CNN will remain independent under his ownership, evidence strongly suggests the opposite. Editorial control of CBS News was handed off to right-wing commentator Bari Weiss after its Ellison takeover, with the ensuing changes pushing the network in a more MAGA-friendly direction — and sending ratings into a freefall.

In addition to Carr, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also recently suggested that CNN will be forced into a more Trump-friendly direction under its impending new ownership as well.

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US looks to expand military presence in Greenland following Trump’s threats

From the Iran war to steep new tariffs to threatening to make Canada "the 51st state," U.S. President Donald Trump has often clashed with longtime U.S. allies and fellow members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Another source of tension is Greenland: Other NATO members vehemently oppose Trump's proposal for the United States to take over the Arctic Island and Danish territory.

Trump, earlier this year, wasn't ruling out the possibility of taking Greenland by force.

According to The Independent's Maira Butt, the U.S. "is seeking to expand its military presence in Greenland just two months after" Trump "threatened to take over the island."

Butt, in an article published on April 2, reports, "According to American military officials, Washington is seeking access to three additional bases on the Arctic territory, including two that they had previously abandoned. It follows days of tension between Trump and Europe after the U.S. leader said he was 'absolutely' considering withdrawing America from NATO over a lack of support in the Iran war, which has driven a further wedge between him and other western leaders."

The "plan for an increased American presence over the autonomous territory," Butt notes, is "being considered under the 1951 Danish-American defense pact."

According to Butt, "The treaty already allows the U.S. sweeping military access to Greenland and was used to push back against Trump's threats to previously seize the entire territory, which he considered crucial to America's strategic interests…. At the moment, the Pituffik Space Base is the sole U.S. military base in the territory and is situated on the northwest coast of the island. It is central to early warning and missile defense as well as space surveillance for the U.S."

Trump, Butt notes, "faced widespread backlash from the European Union" earlier this year.

"Trump has had his eyes on Greenland since 2019, when he first publicly floated the idea of purchasing the territory from Denmark," Butt writes. "Earlier this year, Europe was thrown into mayhem after Trump said that the U.S. 'needed' Greenland and demanded control of the territory 'right now,' threatening to impose extortionate tariffs on countries that prevented the move or disagreed."

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WSJ explains Vance's embrace of a dictator in two words: Tucker Carlson

The conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal is putting the American vice president on notice for throwing his lot in with Hungarian despot Viktor Orbán, arguably to appease the Tucker Carlson wing of MAGA.

JD Vance was in Budapest on Tuesday “to meddle in Hungary’s national election,” said the WSJ editorial board, but it appears to be in an effort “to help himself in 2028.”

"By showing up in Budapest, and doing a rally and presser with Mr. Orbán, Mr. Vance is pursuing his strategy of solidifying support on the MAGA right. Tucker Carlson is especially fond of Mr. Orbán, and Mr. Vance wants no degree of separation from the podcaster and his various acolytes," said WSJ. "Think of the Hungarian visit as part of the MAGA podcast primary."

But Carlson, an early skeptic about the Iraq War, has called Trump's invasion “absolutely disgusting and evil, prompting Trump to respond that “Tucker has lost his way” and “he’s not MAGA."

A large sector of MAGA's "America First" wing hotly disapprove of Trump's invasion, and consider it a betrayal of America First. But if Carlson’s ruptures with Trump widen, observers say "he could then portray himself to a disillusioned MAGA base as the true leader of their movement" and potentially "run for president himself in 2028."

Vance, a presidential aspirant, may be looking to commandeer the emerging Carlson enclave.

Without some ulterior motive, WSJ says there's no clear reason for Vance to embrace a dictator with so many contradictions.

“Mr. Vance trotted out the word ‘sovereignty’ repeatedly during Tuesday’s appearance in Budapest to inveigh against putative EU meddling in Hungarian affairs,” but the WSJ called that claim “the biggest howler” considering Orbán has never proposed leaving the EU like Britain did in 2016. Hungarians benefit from the EU and would hate it.

Additionally, “Vance’s Hungarian romance” is damaging to U.S. interests, said the WSJ, including with the ongoing Russian invasion of U.S. ally Ukraine, which WSJ says Orbán complicates by being a Russian ally.

“Mr. Vance’s support for Mr. Orbán is so strong that he is wrapping his arms around him even as Mr. Orbán may lose Sunday’s election amid frustration with the poor state of Hungary’s economy,” said the WSJ, potentially alienating “conventional center-right politician, Péter Magyar.”

“American conservatives have plenty of reasons to distrust Europe. But Mr. Vance isn’t winning many friends for America by treating Hungary’s election like it’s the Iowa caucuses,” said the WSJ.

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Legal scholars reveal Trump's power is 'trending in the worst direction'

Speaking with the New York Times this week, two legal scholars explained why Donald Trump's presidency appears to be "trending in the worst direction" and warned that the midterms might not stop him.

Jedediah Britton-Purdy and David Pozen are law professors at Duke and Columbia, respectively. In October, the pair published a piece for the Boston Review, "What Are We Living Through?," which broke down how Trump's chaotic presidency was specifically affecting the state of the U.S. government. In it, they concluded that one of three things was happening: "more of the same," a "constitutional regime change" or, in the worst case, a full-on "authoritarian crisis."

In a piece published by the Times on Friday, the two legal scholars followed up on their original analysis, taking into account everything that has happened since. Citing the indictment of John Bolton and the violent immigration crackdown in Minnesota, among other incidents, Pozen concluded that Trump was showing signs of heading in the worst direction, towards authoritarianism.

"All of these episodes have arguable precedents in modern U.S. history, especially the use of military force abroad without congressional authorization," Pozen said. "But the degree of lawlessness and the scale of violence are meaningfully, alarmingly different today. Which is to say, things have been trending in the worst direction — authoritarian — in some ways that are hard to miss. And the more unpopular Trump gets, the more difficult it becomes to sustain the narrative that this is the constitutional change Americans signed up for."

Pozen further explained that there are major concerns, especially among "liberals and centrists," that Trump is directly pulling from the "authoritarian playbook" to guide his presidency: "attacking civil society institutions, persecuting political opponents, sidelining the legislature, declaring endless emergencies, demonizing immigrants, preparing to rig elections and consolidating power wherever he can." He noted that, in this way, Trump is less comparable to past GOP presidents like Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, and more like Hungary's Viktor Orban, an authoritarian leader who has become increasingly revered by the global far-right.

Britton-Purdy added that there is now a major worry that Trump's authoritarian streak will not be hemmed in by the expected "Blue Wave" in the 2026 midterms.

"The worry about authoritarianism isn’t going anywhere, even if the midterms go forward more or less normally," he warned.

"We are about to run that experiment with the midterms," Pozen added, referring to fears that Trump will work to rig all future elections in his favor. "And we have plenty of reasons to worry. Trump has already called on Republicans to 'nationalize' elections, railed against a nonexistent epidemic of voter fraud, pardoned people involved in his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, pressured senators to force through a SAVE America Act that would effectively disenfranchise millions, and more."

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