Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Budapest on Monday and delivered what amounted to a full-throated American endorsement of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, telling the nationalist leader that President Donald Trump is "deeply committed to your success, because your success is our success."

The visit came less than two months before Hungary's April 12 elections, in which Orban — who has governed the country since 2010 — faces what most analysts consider the toughest challenge to his rule in over a decade. Most polls show opposition leader Peter Magyar and his center-right Tisza party with a significant lead heading into the spring vote.

Rubio made no effort to conceal the administration's preference. Standing alongside Orban at a joint press conference, the secretary of state described the U.S.-Hungary relationship as entering a "golden era" and framed the Hungarian leader's political survival as a matter of American national interest.

"This relationship we have here in central Europe through you is so essential and vital for our national interests in the years to come," Rubio said.

The remarks built on Trump's own public endorsement of Orban, posted to Truth Social earlier this month. "I was proud to ENDORSE Viktor for Re-Election in 2022, and am honored to do so again," Trump wrote, calling Orban "a truly strong and powerful Leader" and "a true friend, fighter, and WINNER."

A nuclear deal and a sanctions exemption

Beyond the political messaging, Rubio's visit produced a concrete deliverable: a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement between the United States and Hungary. The deal covers the possible purchase of small modular reactors, U.S.-supplied nuclear fuel, and spent fuel storage technology.

The agreement builds on discussions that began during Orban's visit to the White House in November, when Hungary signaled readiness to support construction of up to 10 small modular reactors with a potential value of up to $20 billion. Orban also said at the time that Hungary would enter a nuclear fuel deal with U.S.-based Westinghouse to supply fuel for the country's Russian-built Paks I nuclear plant.

Rubio also defended the administration's decision to grant Hungary an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy — a concession that has drawn criticism from allies pushing to reduce Europe's dependence on Moscow. Orban thanked the Trump administration during the press conference for allowing Hungary to continue purchasing what he called "cheap energy" from Russia.

Rubio declined to specify how long the exemption would last, even as the European Union has set a target of phasing out Russian fossil fuels entirely by the end of 2027. Hungary now buys a greater share of its oil from Russia than it did before Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Orban's standing in Europe — and in conservative America

Orban occupies an unusual position in European politics. He is widely regarded as the EU's most pro-Russian leader and has consistently opposed providing military or financial support to Ukraine. He has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin throughout the war, while simultaneously cultivating deep ties with Trump and the broader American conservative movement.

That combination has made him a polarizing figure in Brussels but a popular one in certain corners of Washington. Many in the MAGA movement and the wider American right view Hungary as a model of successful conservative governance — particularly on immigration, where Orban erected a fence on Hungary's southern border in 2015 to block refugees fleeing the Middle East and Africa.

American conservatives have also praised Orban's record on social policy. His government last year banned the Budapest Pride celebration and approved the use of facial recognition technology to identify anyone who participated in defiance of the ban. Hungary has effectively banned same-sex adoption and same-sex marriage and has barred transgender individuals from changing their sex in official documents.

Budapest has hosted several iterations of the Conservative Political Action Conference, and another was hastily rescheduled this year to fall in March — just weeks before the April elections.

Critics, however, have questioned what the U.S. gains from the relationship beyond ideological alignment. Jeff Rathke, president of the American-German Institute and a former State Department official, pointed out that Hungary has deepened its dependence on Russian energy since the invasion of Ukraine. "It is unclear how Orban contributes to any U.S. objectives aside from the ideological project of supporting right-wing, anti-European, would-be autocrats," Rathke said.

When asked about Hungary's growing business ties with both Russia and China, Rubio said it should surprise no one that Budapest pursues its own national interests and pivoted to the personal bond between Orban and Trump.

"I'm going to be very blunt with you," Rubio said. "The prime minister and the president have a very, very close personal relationship and working relationship, and I think it has been incredibly beneficial to the relationship between our two countries."

The challenge from Peter Magyar

Orban's challenger, Peter Magyar, is himself a conservative — a former member of Orban's own Fidesz party who broke with the government and pivoted to an anti-corruption platform. Magyar took control of the center-right Tisza party in 2024, the same year the party captured roughly 30% of the vote in European Parliamentary elections.

Magyar formally launched his campaign on Sunday in Budapest, one day before Rubio's arrival. "We're standing on the threshold of victory with 56 days left to go," he said, vowing to crack down on corruption, return Hungary to a Western European orientation, and end Orban's nearly 16-year grip on power.

Whether Trump's endorsement and Rubio's visit will prove helpful or counterproductive for Orban is an open question. The administration's intervention is without much precedent — Trump has broken with longstanding norms by publicly weighing in on the elections of foreign countries, having also endorsed Argentine President Javier Milei.

Orban, for his part, appeared eager to lean further into the relationship. He told Rubio on Monday that Hungary is prepared to host any future trilateral peace summit between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine, and extended Trump an "open invitation" to visit Budapest.

He also took aim at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, claiming that Kyiv was attempting to interfere in Hungary's upcoming elections by criticizing Orban's opposition to providing weapons or aid to Ukraine and his threats to block the country's eventual EU membership.

A broader pattern

Rubio's stop in Budapest followed a visit to Slovakia on Sunday, where he met with another euroskeptic leader sympathetic to both Trump and Moscow. Together, Hungary and Slovakia represent the most Trump-friendly governments in the EU — and the most resistant to the bloc's efforts to support Ukraine and distance itself from Russian energy.

Rubio's swing through Central Europe also came on the heels of his appearance at the Munich Security Conference, where the secretary of state delivered a combative speech telling European allies that the United States would "defend and renew Western civilization" — alone, if necessary.

The administration's courtship of Orban fits within that framework: a willingness to prioritize bilateral relationships with ideologically sympathetic leaders, even at the cost of friction with traditional multilateral partners. Whether that approach yields lasting strategic returns — or simply props up a friendly government facing an uncertain election — is a question the April vote may begin to answer.