Trump Lauds Orban, ‘Looking At’ Russian Sanctions Exemption
(Bloomberg) -- US President Donald Trump signaled an openness to exempting Hungary from sanctions on purchases of Russian energy as he hosted Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“We’re looking at it, because it’s very difficult for him to get the oil and gas from other areas,” Trump said as they met at the White House on Friday, in response to a question about Orban’s request. “They don’t have the advantage of having a sea.”
The sit-down Friday — during which the two leaders were set to discuss trade, energy, and the war in Ukraine — was the first for Orban since Trump returned to the White House. It’s a pivotal moment for the Hungarian prime minister, who is seeking an exemption from the US sanctions that are a bid to squeeze Russia and end the conflict.
The Hungarian leader told reporters that his country still needed the exemption given limited alternative sources for oil and gas. Orban has earned the ire of many European leaders, who have worked to cut economic and energy ties with Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, for his close relationship with the Kremlin.
Trump on Friday reinforced his support for the controversial leader, slamming Europe for its own Russian energy purchases and its immigration policies while saying Orban is “respected by everybody, he’s liked by some.” He freshly endorsed the Hungarian leader for his re-election, saying Orban had done a “fantastic job.”
For his part, Orban hailed a new “golden” era of US-Hungary relations and derided Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, while saying he wanted to “contribute to the peace efforts of the president.”
Orban has cultivated a close relationship with the US president and visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida twice last year. He was expected to court Trump with offers to purchase US liquefied natural gas and nuclear fuel.
“During the Democrat administration, everything was ruined,” Orban said. “After your leaving president, everything was basically broke, ruined, canceled.”
The meeting lands as Trump is seeking to adjust his approach toward ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, after Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned efforts to negotiate a ceasefire agreement.
Trump recently announced Budapest, Hungary, would be the location for a leaders’ summit to address the war, only to reverse course days later. Trump ultimately said he didn’t want a “wasted meeting,” and then imposed sanctions on Russia’s two biggest crude oil producers in an attempt to pressure Russia to make a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump said he and Orban had already discussed the Russia-Ukraine conflict and that Orban had told him he expected “that war ended in the not-too-distant future.”
Trump said he would still want to hold a meeting with the Russian leader in Budapest, if the Kremlin signaled a genuine willingness to end the conflict.
“The basic dispute is they just don’t want to stop yet,” Trump said.
The Trump administration previously lifted sanctions imposed on Orban’s chief of staff and secret services chief and ended visa restrictions that were imposed during the Biden administration.
(Updates with Trump comments on Putin in final paragraphs. An earlier version of this story corrected Orban’s title.)
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
