Trump says he's not concerned about Orban's defeat, calls Magyar 'good man'

Prefer on Google by Martin Fornusek U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (L), in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, on Oct. 14, 2025. (Michael Kappeler / dpa / picture alliance via Getty Images) U.S. President Donald Trump said he is not concerned about Hungary's outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orban's electoral loss, despite having endorsed him earlier, ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl reported on April 15. Trump also expressed sympathy for Orban 's rival and incoming Hungarian prime minister, Peter Magyar , whose center-right Tisza party secured a parliamentary supermajority in the April 12 vote. "I think the new man's going to do a good job — he's a good man," Trump reportedly said in a conversation with Karl. Orban's resounding defeat was widely seen as a blow to Trump, who has publicly backed the Hungarian leader and dispatched Vice President JD Vance to Budapest last week to boost his campaign. Orban, whose 16-year rule has been marked by democratic backsliding and deepening economic ties with Russia, shares a right-wing populist agenda with Trump on issues ranging from immigration to the EU. According to Karl, Trump said he was unsure whether visiting Hungary personally instead of Vance would make a difference in the elections, especially since Orban "was behind substantially." "I wasn't that involved in this one. Viktor's a good man, though," Trump said. Magyar, a former Fidesz insider who broke with the party over a corruption scandal in 2024, pledged to root out graft and clientelism from the Orban era and normalize Budapest's relationship with the EU. He is also widely viewed as a conservative with a strict stance on immigration. The Tisza leader met Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok on April 15 after calling for a swift transfer of power, aiming to take office by early May.