President Donald Trump and Hungary’s autocratic chief Viktor Orban, whom Trump has repeatedly praised as a “strongman,” are assembly on the White Home on Friday.
Trump shook Orban’s hand as he arrived. As reporters shouted questions, Trump pointed to Orban and known as him a “nice chief.”
Anticipated to be a part of the talks is Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, particularly new U.S. sanctions concentrating on two of Moscow’s largest oil corporations and their subsidiaries which might be set to enter impact on Nov. 21.
President Donald Trump greets Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the White Home in Washington, November 7, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Final week, Trump mentioned Orban wished an exemption from the sanctions.
“He has requested for an exemption. We have not granted one, however he has requested. He is a buddy of mine. He is requested for an exemption,” Trump instructed reporters on Air Pressure One.
Hungary’s International Minister, Peter Szijjarto, posted on X on Friday morning that the Hungary and the U.S. will signal a “important nuclear cooperation settlement.”
Szijjarto wrote they can even “handle that, given our geographic realities, sustaining the flexibility to buy vitality from Russia with out sanctions or authorized restrictions is crucial for Hungary’s vitality safety.”
Orban was lately going to play host to a summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, earlier than Trump known as the proposed assembly off amid frustration with the shortage of progress in peace talks.
Trump mentioned that they had picked Budapest, Hungary as the placement as a result of each he and Putin appreciated Orban.
“He is been an excellent chief within the sense of operating his nation,” Trump mentioned of Orban.
Forward of Friday’s assembly, Orban posted on X that he hoped to “open a brand new chapter in Hungarian–American relations with President Trump.”
“Our objective is to determine a strategic partnership that features vitality cooperation, investments, defence collaboration, and discussions on the post-war panorama following the Russia–Ukraine battle. We’re engaged on an settlement based mostly on mutual advantages, one which serves the pursuits of each Hungarian citizen,” Orban wrote.
Trump additionally welcomed Orban to the White Home throughout his first time period, in 2019, breaking from his predecessors who had shunned Hungary’s prime minister from Washington.
The 2 males met a number of occasions when Trump was out of workplace at his Florida property, together with through the summer season of the 2024 marketing campaign and after Trump turned president-elect.
President Donald Trump shakes palms with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban throughout a gathering within the Oval Workplace, Could 13, 2019, in Washington, D.C.
Mark Wilson/Getty Photographs, FILE
Orban has been embraced by many distinguished American conservatives over his positions on immigration and LGBTQ points, and has spoken a number of occasions on the Conservative Political Motion Convention. Orban hosted a CPAC occasion in Hungary earlier this year .
Trump praised Orban through the ABC News September 2024 presidential debate with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, after Harris claimed Trump was not revered on the world stage.
“Let me simply let you know about world leaders. Viktor Orban, one of the crucial revered males — they name him a powerful man. He is a troublesome particular person. Sensible. Prime Minister of Hungary. They mentioned why is the entire world blowing up? Three years in the past it wasn’t. Why is it blowing up? He mentioned since you want Trump again as president,” Trump mentioned through the debate.
