“Those sanctions waivers happened, as much as anything else, because of the relationship between the prime minister (Viktor Orban) and the President (Donald Trump). And so I think all I can tell you is that’s the – that relationship and the importance of that relationship, and the importance of that relationship to our bilateral relationship, underpins the decision the President made and, I think, will continue to underpin it as long as that relationship is a factor in our bilateral relations.”
The above statement belongs to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was made on Monday in Budapest at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The statement in question was Rubio’s response to a question from a CBS News journalist about the goodwill shown by the Trump administration towards the Orban regime’s continued purchases of Russian oil.
As evidenced by this statement by Marco Rubio, the engine of the relationship between the US and Hungary is fueled exclusively by the relationship between Donald Trump and Viktor Orban.
In fact, the entire speech of the US Secretary of State, as well as his answers to journalists’ questions was essentially dedicated to one thing: underlining the importance of the Trump-Orban relationship.
It was a truly bizarre speech from this point of view, because Rubio underlined and reiterated so many times the significance and intensity of the relationship between the two leaders, leaving the feeling that he is not the head of American diplomacy but the strongman of a wedding employed by the bride and groom’s families.
At the same time, Rubio’s emphasis on Trump’s love for Orban was not necessarily surprising, given the context in which the US secretary of state had been sent to Budapest: less than two months before Hungary’s elections at a time when Hungarian confidence in their prime minister is being eroded. Opinion polls reveal a relatively comfortable lead for the opposition party.
Despite falling in polls, the result of the Hungarian elections is not already decided. The remaining time and electoral process can still play to Viktor Orban’s advantage.
And Trumpist Washington is perfectly aware of the nuances of the Hungarian electoral race, which is why it has considered it wasn’t a waste of time to intervene for the benefit of Viktor Orban, including sending Rubio to Budapest to agitate for Orban campaign.
In Eastern Europe, in the electoral context, Donald Trump is doing the same as he did in Latin America. To support his allies in the elections, he has openly put the entire force of the American state at their service – pardoning a former president who was serving a 45-year sentence for drug trafficking (the Honduras case), and blackmailing the mass of voters by cutting the $20 billion in financial assistance if he does not vote for President Javier Milei’s party (the case of Argentina).
Secretary of State Rubio made the trip to Budapest (later also to Bratislava, where he has another unscrupulous ally, Robert Fico), leaving the Munich Security Conference where he served Europeans a slightly sweetened, but no less toxic, version of Vice President JD Vance’s speech last year.
But in Budapest, in his attempt to praise Orban for his inspiration to join Trump’s train, the secretary of state could not avoid the trap of contradictions.
On the one hand, there were those related to Russia, and on the other, related to China.
On Russia, Rubio he was like a compassless traveler through the forest: he insistently ventilated the merits of Trump in his efforts to make peace in Ukraine, but at the same time he has insistently ventilated the merits of Orban, perhaps the most experienced of Putin’s Trojans horses.
From Budapest he flew to Bratislava, where he showed his support for another Putinist Trojan horse, the Slovakian prime minister.
Let’s keep in mind an important aspect: although they are presented as allies of the US (in reality they are allies of Trump), the Orban and Fico regimes are no less allies of Russia; and for Moscow they are the precious regimes in this role, as they are EU and NATO members.
Let’s look at the relevant quotes from Marco Rubio’s response to the CBS News journalist’s question.
CBS question:
- ” Mr. Secretary, on the notion of a golden age, why isn’t the United States conditioning deeper cooperation with Budapest on Hungary reducing its extensive and ongoing, deepening cooperation with China, which is a strategic rival for the United States?
- Rubio’s response (relevant part):
- ” Under President Trump, it is our expectation that every nation on Earth is going to act in their national interest. That’s what nations are supposed to do. If the prime minister of Hungary does not act in the national interest of Hungary, he won’t be prime minister for long; but who’s going to act in the national interest of Hungary if their prime minister doesn’t do it?
- But we’re not asking any country in the world to isolate themselves from anybody. We understand that every country in the world has to deal with the reality of their geography, of their economy, of their history, and of the challenges of their future.
- Obviously we will share with partners and friends concerns we may have about certain things.
- But as an example, the United States – you mentioned China as an example. Okay. We have trade and relations with China. The President of the United States is going to travel in April to China. Why? Because China is a big country.
First remark: note that Rubio did not contradict the heavy and embarrassing labels (for the US) put by the CBS journalist in relation to the scale of the Budapest-Beijing relationship.
The second remark: in the opinion of Rubio, therefore of the Trump administration, if the Hungary of its friend Orban maintains “deep” relations with China, it does so strictly out of “national interest”. Further, Rubio argues, it is legitimate for Orban to do so given that he is the Prime Minister of Hungary and, through the job description, the Prime Minister of Hungary pursues the national interest of Hungary.
Third remark: Rubio claims that Hungary has every reason for and has a somewhat natural right to a deeper relationship with China, but the Trump administration’s plate changes 180 degrees when it comes to other countries. For example, when it comes to Canada. In the context in which it was betrayed by the Trump administration (through tariff war) and threatened by the Trump administration (with annexation, how else?), Canada recently decided to thaw, commercially, its relationship with China.
The result? Brutal rhetoric against Ottawa from Washington plus the threat of imposing 100% tariffs.
Add here the harsh criticism of the US against the EU in the context of the signing of the EU-India trade agreement.
Of course, examples can go on, but there is no room for the Trumpist madness in a book, let alone in a modest opinion piece.
Fourth remark: Rubio says that “we are not asking any country in the world to isolate itself from anyone. We understand that every country in the world must face the reality of its geography, its economy, its history and the challenges of its future.”
Well, the US, with Trump and Rubio shoulder to shoulder, has just jumped on the dictator of Venezuela, but it is the fate of Maduro here, but that of Venezuela. At this point, Venezuela is somehow being taken hostage by Trump’s America, and the story extends to Cuba as well.
Moreover, the security strategy published by the Trump administration in December emphasizes that the US will have the role of strategic censor throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Fifth remark: Rubio mentioned in Budapest that Hungary has rights that other states – from Canada to Venezuela – do not have. America also has extraordinary rights. For example, the right to relate as deeply as he wants with China. A right that, as I said, Trump’s America denies to EU states, when it comes to their relationship with India.
Rubio was sent by Trump to Hungary to intensely campaign for Orban and at the same time to consolidate once again and expand as much as possible the exercise of hypocrisy of the current administration in Washington.
