U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance holds a cell phone while speaking into the microphone with U.S. President Donald Trump during a Friendship Day event attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at MTK Sports Park in Budapest, Hungary, on April 7, 2026.
Jonathan Ernst | Getty Images
President Donald Trump praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Tuesday after Vice President J.D. Vance called his boss from the stage at a political rally at a Budapest soccer stadium.
“I love Victor. I’ll tell you, he’s a great guy. We’ve had a great relationship,” Trump said as Vance held his phone’s speaker over a microphone on stage.
The efforts by Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance, who traveled to Hungary for the first time as public officials to promote Mr. Orbán’s candidacy, come as polls show the incumbent leader is on track to lose the next election.
Orbán, a conservative nationalist whose closeness with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Ukraine war made him an outlier among European leaders, has long been a favorite of President Trump.
“Remember this: The president is not going to allow people to attack your country, invade your country, destroy your country, as other people have done,” Trump told a Hungarian audience on speakerphone. “He’s made your country better. He’s kept Hungarians in your country, and he’s done a great job.”
President Trump, who has cracked down on immigration in the United States, apparently contrasted Hungary’s strict immigration regulations with those of its European neighbors.
Prime Minister Orban and his Fidesz party have been in power since 2010. However, the latest opinion polls show that the pro-European opposition party Tisza, led by Péter Magyar, has an advantage in the next parliamentary elections scheduled for April 12.
Mr. Vance initially had trouble getting Mr. Trump, who was speaking after Mr. Orbán, on the phone from the stage.
The first time I called, I heard an automated voice that said, “Sorry, the person you are trying to contact is using a voicemail box that is not yet set up.”
“Okay, try again,” Vance said. “The signal is good here,” he added, looking at his phone. “It’s ringing. It’s progress,” he said before Trump answered the phone.
Vance said he did not come to tell Hungarians how to vote, but later told them to “go to the polls” and “stand with Viktor Orbán, because he is on your side.”
The US leader’s move to rally support for Orbán comes at the same time as President Trump threatens to destroy Iran’s “entire civilization” if a deal is not reached by 8pm ET on Tuesday.
