Hungary & United States relations during the Trump Regime.

At the 5th Geopolitical Summit in Budapest, US Chargé d’Affaires Robert Palladino framed Hungary as central to the ‘renewal of Western civilization’, praising its defence of sovereignty and family. He had argued that America and Hungary are allies not by convenience but conviction, united against chaos by shared civilisational values.

Palladino then insisted that chaos is not destiny. “Chaos is a test and an opportunity, a test of whether we remember who we are, an opportunity to reconnect to what we cherish. We are allies not merely because we share NATO membership or trade across the Atlantic. We are allies because we share a conviction: sovereignty, faith, family, and culture. These are not outdated; this is oxygen. Order matters. Families matter. Nations matter. Without them, nothing else endures”.

Under the Joe Biden administration, relations between Washington and Budapest sank to the brink of nadir. During the previous presidency, US-Hungary relations were not so harmonious. President Joe Biden’s State Department was more interested in using the diplomatic corps to wage culture wars rather than pursue America’s strategic interests or strengthen bilateral ties. Ambassador David Pressman presence (2022–2025) in Budapest became synonymous with ideological confrontation as the embassy “transitioned” into an activist NGO.

The most vivid example of the State Department’s culture wars came in June 2023, when the US Embassy in Budapest joined Washington’s initiative and flew the rainbow Pride flag, as well as organised a “family pride event”. To the admirers, this was a gesture of inclusion. Yet, in Hungary, it was mainly perceived as a deliberate provocation, a clear statement that Biden’s envoy was in Budapest to export left-wing culture wars.

The Biden administration’s ideological warfare in Hungary which had mirrored the Democratic Party’s domestic agenda penetrating almost every aspect of US diplomacy in Hungary. University reforms designed by the Hungarian government to halt the spread of left-wing on campuses were heavily criticised by the administration.

Even after Ambassador Pressmann’s tenure was over, he continued to claim that “All of the resources of the universities became the ownership assets of a single political party”. The factually incorrect criticism is clearly an externalisation of domestic ideological tensions in the United States, considering that then-Senator JD Vance (R-OH) expressed support for these reforms as early as February 2024, even asserting that the United States might learn a thing or two from these “smart decisions”.

However, in pursuing the Biden-era activist mission, a fundamental fact was overlooked. Whether one admires Viktor Orbán or not, he is Hungary’s democratically elected prime minister, and his policies were chosen by the people at the ballot box. By implying that the Hungarian government’s domestic agenda is illegitimate or undemocratic, Pressman defied the wishes of millions of Hungarians. Treating Hungary like a wayward client state, rather than as a sovereign country, necessarily alienates a large swath of the citizenry. As a result, in just three years, Hungarians’ distrust of America nearly doubled: according to a GLOBSEC survey, in 2020, only 13% viewed the United States to be a security threat, but by 2023, that number had surged to 25%.

Unfortunately, the activist years also incurred concrete financial costs to both Hungarian and US businesses. In July 2022, the Biden administration terminated the almost five-decade-old Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with Hungary, disrupting business ties and creating uncertainty for investors.

Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, Mr. Palladino’s words serve as a vital blueprint to strengthen US-Hungarian ties. Palladino placed Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ foreign policy within this framework. “America’s alliances must rest not on abstract universalism but on shared civilisational commitments. That is why Hungary is not a partner of convenience; it is a partner of conviction”, he declared. This “pragmatic harmony” should be fundamental in America’s bilateral relations, yet it marks a sharp pivot from the previous years. The United States stands with Hungary under the leadership of Mr. Donald Trump not as a patron, not as a critic, but as a civilizational ally determined to forge order in a time of chaos.

Team Maverick