Hungarian leader bets big on Trump's comeback - what's at stake for Europe?

Viktor Orban jumped to welcome Trumps win on social-media platform X describing it as good news for everyone. The Hungarian leader whoʼs known for his non-standard approach to EU politics hosted a summit in Budapest where other European officials gathered to discuss whats next

In recent months Orban took steps that made other EU members uncomfortable - he went on a self-made peace tour to Moscow and Kyiv (without telling anyone) and then flew to Mar-a-Lago to meet Trump. After their meet-up he shared some big-news on social networks:

We have big plans for the future

The Hungarian PM wants to be the go-between for US-EU talks which could help him get out of his current not-so-good position in Europe. His ideas about Ukraine and Russia made him kind of an outsider in Brussels; but now with Trump coming back he sees a chance to fix that

His local problems are getting bigger though - theres a new party giving him trouble and the economy isnt doing great. But having Trump as US president could make things easier for Orban since there would be less questions about media rules and other stuff

The tricky part is that Trumps trade ideas could hurt Hungary real bad. The country has lots of car factories (like Stellantis and BYD) and they make up a big chunk of jobs. If Trump puts his 10% tax on everything coming to US and 60% on China-made stuff; it might cause some real trouble for Hungarian workers and factory-owners

• Car industry gives lots of jobs to Hungarians
• New taxes could hit exports hard
• Chinese companies in Hungary might face extra problems
• Trade rules might need complete re-thinking

US ambassador David Pressman isnt happy with how things are going. He thinks Orban is playing a dangerous game:

He was gambling not with money but with the U.S.-Hungary relationship