After 16 years in power, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán suffered a massive defeat in Hungary’s April 12 parliamentary election. Many observers have described the outcome as a stern ideological rebuke of the Trump administration, which lobbied heavily in Orbán’s favor, and have argued that Orbán’s defeat would allow the EU to bolster its support for Ukraine and assert its strategic autonomy.
Yet, the Trump administration’s aggressive political interference agenda is likely to persist and could further weaken the foundations of European strategic autonomy.
Hungary’s election was a setback for Washington. President Trump urged Hungarians to support Orbán and promised to mobilize America’s “full economic might” to help his regime. He also sent Vice President J.D. Vance to attend pro-Orbán rallies, marking the most senior U.S. official’s visit to Hungary since 2006.
Orbán was the first European leader to endorse Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, forging a bond that deepened during the Biden era. His illiberal governance was a source of inspiration. More broadly, many on the American right admired his resistance to the EU, his close ties to Russia, and his efforts to make Hungary a global conservative stronghold.
Yet this setback may not derail the Trump administration’s agenda of political interference abroad. Although the U.S. has a long (and violent) record in that domain, President Trump has interfered more heavily in other countries’ internal affairs than most of his predecessors.
Author
Events on Europe and Eurasia
