Viktor Orbán: Trump can save all of humanity

Last week, prior to berating US ambassador to Hungary David Pressman in a speech, Tucker Carlson interviewed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on the terrace of the former Carmelite Monastery for his show on X, previously known as Twitter. The half-hour programme was finally published on the social media site at midnight on Tuesday, with even Elon Musk recommending the interview to his followers. He wrote that he was interested in Hungary because "Hungary is trying hard to address their birth rate problem".

We should forget about Ukraine's NATO membership

At the very beginning of the interview, Carlson tells us the purpose of his visit to Hungary: he wants to find out from Orbán what is happening in Ukraine. And why is Orbán the most qualified to brief his viewers, according to Carlson?

"Orbán knows the Russians well. He grew up under Russian occupation, was arrested as a young man and thrown in jail by Russian-backed police for his efforts to liberate the country." Here, they show a photo of the Hungarian prime minister taken in 1988, when policemen used batons to push the young politician against a police car.

"And as prime minister, he has close ties to Vladimir Putin, whose nation supplies Hungary with most of its energy," Carlson continues, before concluding that “Viktor Orbán understands Russia and Ukraine.”

"It’s a lie that Ukraine is winning the war."

- Orbán states right at the beginning of the interview. "This is not just a misunderstanding. It's a lie. It is impossible," the Prime Minister insists. Orbán says that Ukraine will run out of soldiers before Russia does, and that the deciding factor in this war will be the number of "boots on the ground" on the battlefield. "So the strategy we are currently supporting is badly engineered," he concludes.

As for the US administration's dreams of defeating Russia and of a possible regime change in Russia, Orbán was adamant that the West cannot defeat Russia using its current methods. According to Orbán, "they will not kill their leader and they will never give up". No matter how much money and equipment the West gives for a war against Russia, the Russians will pour more money into it and produce even more equipment. "So they're not gonna get sick of Putin and throw him out?" – Carlson asked. "Come on, it's a joke," was Orbán's response.

When asked about Ukraine joining NATO, Orbán said that “that ship has sailed”. "[In 2008] we missed the historic opportunity to admit Ukraine to NATO. That window of opportunity is no longer there," the Prime Minister stated.

“This is not a realistic proposal at this moment, so we should forget about it.”

- he added. Orbán said that we cannot afford to turn the long border between Russia and Ukraine into a NATO border. “This would mean immediate war, a danger for all of us. Even for the United States.”

Trump can save the Western world

"If you were the head of NATO, or if you were, say, Joe Biden, what would your next move be in the war in Ukraine?" – Carlson gets to the point about a third into the interview. "Peace. Immediately. And bringing back Trump, that's the only way out." – Orbán replies without hesitation. The Prime Minister said that former US President Trump has had the "best foreign policy" of the last several decades. If he had been the US president at the start of the Russian invasion, the Russians would not have invaded Ukraine.

"So Trump is the one who can save the Western world and probably all of humanity"

- Orbán declared.

He later explained that his proposal for ending the war would be to make an agreement with Russia that would give Ukraine security and sovereignty, but not NATO membership. In addition, the Russians should be included in the security architecture of Europe, because, according to Orbán, without them we cannot guarantee a secure life for the citizens of Europe.

Carlson suggested that some in the US administration would like to return Crimea to Ukraine. Orbán's response to this suggestion was categorical: "It's completely unrealistic. It is impossible. It's unwise, unrealistic, it's out of the question," he said.

The Americans treat us worse than they treat the Russians

In the second half of the interview, Carlson turned to the relationship between the United States and Hungary. The host talked about how the Hungarian media environment is much freer and more diverse than the American one. "I have to fight every day," Orbán said, laughing.

According to Carlson, the US media labels Orbán as a fascist, and the Biden administration seems to agree. "Are you worried about being crushed by the United States, the most powerful country in the world?" – he asked.

“The US is the number one power in the world, so if you criticise somebody or see them as an enemy, that's a threat. So we have to be cautious in dealing with that.”

- the Hungarian Prime Minister said.

"In the American media, you are portrayed as a puppet of Russia, a friend of Putin. So are you a bootlicker of Putin?" – Orbán was asked by Carlson.

"If you ask anybody on the street whether any freely elected Hungarian leader could be Putin's puppet or a puppet of the Russians, they would say it's a joke. That's impossible," the Prime Minister reassured everyone.

At the end of the interview, Carlson threw in a provocative question, hinting at domestic events in the US. "Have you ever considered indicting your challenger (in elections – ed.) on fake document charges and trying to throw him in jail?" – he asks. And Orbán sets the record straight:

“Using the justice system against your political opponents is impossible to imagine in Hungary.”

This is the second time in two years that the American TV personality, famous for his conspiracy theories and racist remarks, has interviewed Viktor Orbán in Budapest.

Tucker Carlson is one of the most influential right-wing media personalities in the United States. He worked at Fox News for fourteen years, and his show, Tucker Carlson's Tonight was the most-watched political TV show in America. He was fired from the network in April after a huge lawsuit was filed against Fox News among other things, over conspiracy theories about the 2020 election that he had promoted on his show.

Since June, Carlson has hosted a show on Twitter full of Russian propaganda and UFOs, with guests such as the male chauvinist Andrew Tate and the anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr. It is this illustrious company that the Hungarian Prime Minister has now joined.