{"id":154530,"date":"2026-07-16T16:29:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/154530\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T16:29:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:29:14","slug":"trump-orban-world-cup-meeting-ruled-out-as-fidesz-crisis-deepens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/154530\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2013Orb\u00e1n World Cup Meeting Ruled Out as Fidesz Crisis Deepens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fidesz communications director Bertalan Havasi said on Thursday that no meeting was scheduled<\/a> between former prime minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n and US President Donald Trump during Orb\u00e1n\u2019s current visit to the United States. \u2018The rumours that he will meet Donald Trump are not true; there is no such plan,\u2019 Havasi told MTI.<\/p>\n

Orb\u00e1n\u2019s next scheduled meetings and appearances, he said, were a Fidesz leadership and parliamentary group meeting on 21 July and his Tusn\u00e1df\u00fcrd\u0151 speech on 25 July.<\/p>\n

The statement was prompted by remarks from Fidesz deputy group leader and deputy chairman of Parliament\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee Zsolt N\u00e9meth, who alleged that Orb\u00e1n would meet Trump<\/a> in the coming days, adding that Orb\u00e1n could still influence Hungarian\u2013American relations. Asked whether the meeting was certain, he replied: \u2018That is what we have heard.\u2019<\/p>\n

Given their long and close relationship, a meeting between Orb\u00e1n and Trump would not be out of the ordinary. Orb\u00e1n was the first European leader to endorse Trump in 2015 after he announced his presidential ambitions. Trump, similarly, endorsed Orb\u00e1n many times during both the 2022 and 2026 election campaigns.<\/p>\n

Orb\u00e1n visited Washington, DC, in 2025 for a bilateral meeting<\/a> with Trump, which resulted in several mainly informal agreements over Russian sanctions affecting Hungary\u2019s oil imports from Moscow, a currency-swap deal to protect Hungary\u2019s economy from external impacts, and other matters. Additionally, Vice President JD Vance travelled to Hungary<\/a> during the final stage of the campaign, endorsing Orb\u00e1n for re-election, which ultimately did not happen.<\/p>\n

The loss of power inevitably influenced the relationship<\/a> between Orb\u00e1n and Trump. Speaking to reporters days after the crushing defeat of his ally, Trump called Orb\u00e1n\u2019s successor, P\u00e9ter Magyar, \u2018a good man\u2019 who would \u2018do a good job\u2019, while acknowledging Orb\u00e1n\u2019s legacy in protecting Hungary\u2019s borders. During the brief interview, Trump spoke about the former prime minister in the past tense, stating that \u2018he was a friend of mine\u2019.<\/p>\n

Orb\u00e1n Abroad as Fidesz Faces Its Deepest Crisis<\/p>\n

Orb\u00e1n\u2019s current trip to the United States to attend the World Cup semi-finals and the final on 19 July has already drawn criticism, with the Fidesz leader accused of turning his back on both his party and his voters as the political community faces the gravest crisis in its almost 40-year history.<\/p>\n

Orb\u00e1n left Hungary on 13 July as Parliament adopted the 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law<\/a>, pushed by P\u00e9ter Magyar and the Tisza Party. It set in motion President Tam\u00e1s Sulyok\u2019s removal, imposed a retrospective 12-year term limit on MPs, restructured constitutional institutions, and gave constitutional status to the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office<\/a>, an unusually powerful anti-corruption super-agency intended to \u2018dismantle the economic and political mafia of the Orb\u00e1n system\u2019, according to Prime Minister Magyar.<\/p>\n

Fidesz\u2019s parliamentary group boycotted the vote, describing the amendment as the \u2018beginning of tyranny\u2019. Orb\u00e1n himself posted on Facebook in reaction to the vote\u2019s passage, claiming that democracy had died in Hungary\u2014hours before he and his relatives were spotted in the live stream of viral football streamer IShowSpeed.<\/p>\n

While Orb\u00e1n is spending his vacation in the United States, Fidesz continues to lose many of its important members. Citing the 12-year term limit, the party\u2019s parliamentary group leader, Gergely Guly\u00e1s, resigned<\/a> on Monday. He allegedly informed Orb\u00e1n on Friday, while the group learned the news only on Monday. His successor will be chosen on 21 July, after Orb\u00e1n returns to Budapest, with former EU affairs minister J\u00e1nos B\u00f3ka reported as the leading candidate.<\/p>\n

Two days later, one of the defining figures of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s 16 years in power, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade P\u00e9ter Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3, resigned his parliamentary mandate to join<\/a> the international leadership of Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturer BYD.<\/p>\n

On the same day, former Fidesz MP and space commissioner Orsolya Ferencz announced the launch<\/a> of a \u2018strong political community\u2019 based on \u2018morality, the rule of law, work and knowledge\u2019. Ferencz, who has been among the most vocal critics within Fidesz since the 12 April election, also said that this community would extend beyond Fidesz and Tisza, making the announcement more ambiguous. Tibor Navracsics, who served as a minister in several of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s governments, shared the statement. No party has formally been announced so far, although analyst G\u00e1bor T\u00f6r\u00f6k called it the possible beginning of Fidesz\u2019s \u2018formal disintegration\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018The former prime minister\u2019s disapproval rating stands at 69 per cent among the total population\u2019<\/p>\n

Responding to Ferencz, Havasi said that \u2018every party member was free to voice even internal criticism without seeking approval\u2019. \u2018No one in Fidesz has to ask permission<\/a> to post their political opinion, nor do they have to coordinate it in advance if they do not want to. This naturally also applies to self-critical or internally critical opinions,\u2019 Havasi stressed, adding that the party respected \u2018the opinions and comments of all our party colleagues, even if they contain unfair or hurtful statements\u2019. Havasi also emphasized that Ferencz \u2018remains a respected member of our Fidesz community\u2019 who continues to share \u2018our successes, our joys, our failures and our responsibility\u2019, claiming that the leadership does not regard her initiative as a formal break with the party.<\/p>\n

Besides Fidesz, Orb\u00e1n himself is also facing an unprecedented crisis in his decades-long political career. According to a recent survey published on 16 July by Medi\u00e1n, the former prime minister\u2019s disapproval rating stands at 69 per cent<\/a> among the total population, with only 27 per cent welcoming him in any \u2018important political role\u2019. Regarding party voters, Fidesz supporters still overwhelmingly stand by Orb\u00e1n, with 94 per cent approving of him\u2014a figure that falls to just 2 per cent among Tisza voters\u2014while 47 per cent of supporters of parties other than the two main forces reject him.<\/p>\n

Related articles:<\/p>\n

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