President Trump welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n to the White House in what has been billed as a consequential meeting for the two conservative leaders nearly a year into Trump\u2019s second administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Much of the visit centered around Orb\u00e1n\u2019s request that Trump provide Hungary with an exemption to continue importing Russian oil not subject to U.S. sanctions. <\/p>\n
Trump also used the meeting to address domestic issues, including his administration\u2019s message on affordability and his calls for Senate Republicans to abolish the filibuster. <\/p>\n
Here are five takeaways from Trump\u2019s meeting with Orb\u00e1n.<\/p>\n
The public portion of the bilateral meeting doubled as a love-fest of sorts between Trump and Orb\u00e1n, who have long been seen as political allies on the global stage. <\/p>\n
Trump pointed to Orban and called him a \u201cgreat leader\u201d before he escorted him inside of the White House. Orb\u00e1n, who had the most to gain from the meeting, repeatedly mentioned what he said was a \u201cgolden age\u201d between the US and Hungary under the Trump administration. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we need is a golden age,\u201d Orb\u00e1n said sitting next to Trump. \u201cTo open a golden age of the United States-Hungary relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Hungarian leader also took a number of jabs at former President Biden, a move that Trump likely appreciated. <\/p>\n
Trump also appeared to defend Orb\u00e1n from his European critics and those imposing costs on Budapest\u2019s democratic rollbacks. <\/p>\n
“He’s a great leader and he’s respected all over. Not necessarily liked by some of the leaders, but those leaders are proven to be wrong,\u201d the president said. If you look at Europe, they’ve made tremendous mistakes on immigration. It’s really hurting them very badly. He has not made a mistake on immigration. So he\u2019s respected by everybody and liked by some.\u201d <\/p>\n
Trump renewed his pressure campaign on Senate Republicans to eliminate the parliamentary rule known the filibuster during his meeting. <\/p>\n
The president has been calling for Republican leadership to nix the filibuster for days, but sought to assuage fears that such a move would backfire on the party if Democrats regained the majority in future elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The Democrats will do this so if the Democrats are going to do it, I’m saying Republicans should do it before they get a chance,” Trump said. “If we do it, we will never lose the midterms and we will never lose a general election because we will have produced so many different things for our people, for the country, that it would be impossible to lose an election.\u201d <\/p>\n
Trump listed off pieces of Republican-backed legislation that could sail through the chamber if the procedure was done away with, including on measures related to voter ID laws, mail-in voting, and immigration. <\/p>\n
The filibuster does give power to the minority party to block legislation, but GOP leadership including Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) have warned that any move to eliminate the filibuster would backfire down the line. <\/p>\n
The idea has gained traction among some GOP senators including Sens. Jim Banks (Indiana), Roger Marshall (Kansas), and Tommy Tuberville (Alabama). However, Thune has maintained there are currently not enough votes to eliminate the rule.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump hedged on whether he would push Orb\u00e1n to end his country\u2019s reliance on Russian oil and gas, a potential irritant in the relationship as the president has called for Europe to end all reliance on Russian energy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Trump focused any criticism on Europe as a whole, and appeared to adopt Budapest\u2019s argument that its landlocked status makes it reliant on a major pipeline supplying oil from Russia \u2013 even though critics said the country has failed to take steps to diversify its supplies and its reliance is deliberate. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey don’t have the advantage of having sea. It’s a great country, it’s a big country, but they don’t have sea,\u201d Trump said. <\/p>\n