On Tuesday, as President Donald Trump prepared for high-stakes brinksmanship with Iran that ended with a two-week ceasefire, Vice President JD Vance was in… Hungary. The vice president was in Budapest, appearing at a rally for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
In the rally, held at a Budapest soccer stadium, Vance attempted to call Trump, but wasn’t able to get through at first:
JD Vance tries to call Trump at a Viktor Orbán rally and gets sent to voicemail pic.twitter.com/Dby5sVfHwN
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) April 7, 2026
“Let’s see if he actually answers, or this is going to be embarrassing,” Vance said as he held his phone up to the microphone, and a recording was played that said the recipient’s mailbox had not been set up.
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Vance, after a few seconds of dead air, got the phone to ring and ultimately got through to the president.
“I love that Viktor, I’ll tell you, he’s a fantastic man, we’ve had a tremendous relationship,” Trump eventually said to the rally.
Trump on speaker phone at the Orban rally:
“I’m a big fan of Viktor, I’m with him all the way. The United States is with him all the way.”
Trump, Putin, and Xi are all rooting for Orban to win.
pic.twitter.com/gfUCYyfWRS— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 7, 2026
“Remember this, he didn’t allow people to storm your country and invade your country, like other people have, and ruin their countries,” Trump told the crowd, via Vance’s speakerphone. “He’s kept your country good. He’s kept Hungarian people in your country, and he’s done a fantastic job.”
Orban, an anti-immigration hardliner who has often been treated as a right-wing hero, although some polls suggest he’s on track to lose this year’s election. His party has ruled Hungary since 2010, five years before Trump began running for president. Orban, seen as closer to Russia than to the European Union, has often obstructed efforts within the EU when it comes to aiding Ukraine.
The election is set for Sunday, in what the New York Times described as “widely seen as the most consequential for Hungary since its first free election in 1990 after the collapse of Communism.”
Photo courtesy of an X screenshot.
