President Donald Trump and Hungary’s autocratic leader Viktor Orban, whom Trump has repeatedly praised as a “strong man,” will meet at the White House on Friday.
Trump shook Orban’s hand when he arrived. As reporters shouted questions, Trump pointed to Orban and called him a “great leader.”
Expected to be part of the talks is Russia’s war in Ukraine, specifically new US sanctions against two of Moscow’s largest oil companies and their subsidiaries that take effect on November 21.
President Donald Trump greets Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the White House in Washington, Nov. 7, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Last week, Trump said Orban wanted an exemption from sanctions.
“He’s asked for a waiver. We haven’t given him one, but he’s asked for one. He’s a friend of mine. He’s asked for a waiver,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto posted on X on Friday morning that Hungary and the United States sign a “major nuclear cooperation agreement.”
Szijjarto wrote that they will also “address that, given our geographical realities, maintain the ability to purchase energy from Russia without sanctions or legal restrictions is essential for Hungary’s energy security.”
Orban was recently set to host a summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, before Trump canceled the proposed meeting amid frustration over the lack of progress in peace talks.
Trump said they had chosen Budapest, Hungary, as the location because both he and Putin liked Orban.
“He’s been a very good leader in the sense of leading his country,” Trump said of Orban.
Ahead of Friday’s meeting, Orban published in X that he hoped to “open a new chapter in Hungarian-American relations with President Trump.”
“Our goal is to establish a strategic partnership that includes energy cooperation, investments, defense collaboration and discussions on the post-war landscape following the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. We are working on an agreement based on mutual benefits, one that serves the interests of all Hungarian citizens,” Orban wrote.
Trump also welcomed Orban to the White House during his first term in 2019, breaking with his predecessors who had rejected Hungary’s prime minister in Washington.
The two men met several times when Trump was out of office at his Florida estate, including during the summer of the 2024 campaign and after Trump became president-elect.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a meeting in the Oval Office on May 13, 2019, in Washington, DC.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images, FILE
Orban has been embraced by many prominent American conservatives for his positions on immigration and LGBTQ issues, and has spoken several times at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Orban hosted a CPAC event in Hungary earlier this year.
Trump praised Orban during the September 2024 ABC News presidential debate with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, after Harris claimed that Trump was not respected on the world stage.
“Let me talk to you about the world leaders. Viktor Orban, one of the most respected men; they call him a strong man. He’s a tough, intelligent person. Prime Minister of Hungary. They said, why is the whole world exploding? Three years ago it wasn’t like that. Why is it exploding? He said because Trump is needed again as president,” Trump said during the debate.
