A powerful Trump-aligned Republican congresswoman led a US delegation to Budapest this week that reportedly praised the results of Hungary’s April election, which brought an end to the sixteen-year rule of Viktor Orbán and Fidesz, arguably the closest European ally of the Trump administration.
The delegation, headed by North Carolina Representative Virginia Foxx, met National Assembly Speaker Ágnes Forsthoffer on Thursday, 8 October. According to Forsthoffer’s account, published on Friday, the Americans ‘spoke appreciatively’ of the spring election results and asked about the main challenges Hungary has to face. The discussions covered restoring public confidence, stabilizing the budget inherited from the Orbán government, energy diversification and transparent administration.
Forsthoffer said the visitors offered closer parliamentary cooperation and support, while announcing plans to create a Hungarian–US parliamentary friendship group, with 34 MPs already interested. No specific bilateral arrangement was announced and, importantly, the remarks were attributed to Foxx and the delegation by Forsthoffer, a member of the governing Tisza Party.
The Republican Advancing Trump’s America First Agenda in the House
Nevertheless, the delegation’s visit, and especially the stature of its leading figure, already represents a strong political signal from the Republican Party, coming at a time when Fidesz is ramping up its international campaign to portray Hungary’s new government as authoritarian and tyrannical. Virginia Foxx is among the relatively few Republican figures who command broad institutional respect within the party and across its ideological factions.
The 83-year-old congresswoman has represented North Carolina since 2005 and chairs the powerful House Rules Committee, after being selected by Speaker Mike Johnson in January 2025. The committee shapes how legislation reaches the House floor, giving its chairwoman an important role in advancing the Republican majority’s priorities.
She has repeatedly received Trump’s endorsement, including for the 2026 midterms. In February, Trump praised her work advancing ‘America First Values’, while Foxx previously promised to deliver his agenda ‘with diligence and expediency’. Trump had earlier described her as an ‘America First conservative’.
That makes the timing politically uncomfortable for Fidesz. Since its April defeat, the former governing party has accused Magyar of using constitutional amendments, corruption investigations and the dismantling of Orbán-era institutions to make a conservative return to power impossible. It has increasingly sought to take this narrative beyond Hungary.
On 9 September, Viktor Orbán’s former political director, Balázs Orbán, warned the American conservative movement that Hungary was experiencing an ‘authoritarian liberal system’ built on political and economic purges. On 29 September, Fidesz MEPs Kinga Gál and Tamás Deutsch circulated a letter alleging politically motivated prosecutions and an attempt to eradicate the opposition.
The campaign also reached the European Parliament on 6 October, when Patriots for Europe lawmakers displayed a banner asking: ‘What is happening in Hungary? What about DEMOCRACY?’ Gál accused EU institutions of applying double standards by ignoring alleged abuses under Magyar after years of criticizing Orbán’s government. Just two days later, Foxx’s delegation was reportedly speaking appreciatively of the election outcome that brought Magyar to power.
What Tyranny?
The campaign received a divided reception on the American right. Some prominent MAGA-aligned media figures and outlets, such as Dinesh D’Souza, The Federalist and Breitbart, adopted the same line, while others, most notably the strongly pro-Trump American Thinker, disputed the characterization of what is happening in Hungary as political persecution, arguing that the new majority was dismantling institutional arrangements and practices constructed under Fidesz.
Crucially, no public statement identified from Trump, Vance or another senior administration official has endorsed Fidesz’s specific post-election allegations of political persecution. Trump himself took a notably pragmatic position after Orbán’s defeat, saying in April that Magyar was ‘a good guy’ who could do a ‘good job’, while praising Orbán for his stance on immigration and stating that he ‘was a friend of mine’.
‘The campaign received a divided reception on the American right’
Meanwhile, Magyar’s government has been building its own ties with Washington. Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Márton Hajdu visited the US capital in July, meeting lawmakers from both parties, State Department officials and conservative think tanks, including the Heritage Foundation. He returned in September to seek support against potential American penalties on Hungary’s Russian energy imports, stressing that bilateral relations should extend beyond election cycles.
Foxx’s visit and reported remarks therefore directly contradict the image that Fidesz and Orbán are trying to present of Hungary internationally—in much the same way that Orbán’s own opposition spent sixteen years attempting to portray his governments abroad, without producing any meaningful electoral success. The visit, of course, does not mean that Washington approves of every decision made by the new government. But it raises an uncomfortable question for Fidesz: how can it convince American conservatives that Hungary is descending into tyranny when some of Trump’s most influential Republican allies are already building relations with the government it accuses of political persecution?
Related articles:
At a time when public debate is increasingly polarized and superficial, Hungarian Conservative remains committed to depth, intellectual honesty, and independent conservative thought.
Producing high-quality journalism requires resources. Your contribution helps us expand our coverage, reach new audiences, and keep our content accessible.
Please consider supporting our mission.