The article details the recent secretive visit of Donald Trump Jr. to Hungary, emphasizing the growing admiration for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban among US conservatives. Despite Hungary's challenges, including press freedom issues and corruption, it is viewed by some US right-wing figures as a model of governance. Orban's approach to populism and conservatism, highlighted by figures such as Steve Bannon, promotes Hungary as an illiberal model that aligns with certain US political trends. This relationship underscores the intersection of US politics with Hungary's governance style.
Trump and those around him have long talked up Orban's Hungary, depicting it, in the words of one Hungarian journalist, as a sort of Christian conservative Disneyland. The veneration of its alliance of populism and Christianity has persisted, even as the country plunges in press freedom rankings.
As Kevin Roberts, the head of the Heritage Foundation, put it: Modern Hungary is not just a model for conservative statecraft, but the model.
Orban, the prime minister who once described Hungary as a petri dish for illiberalism, has been lauded by Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon as Trump before Trump.
The US vice-president, JD Vance, once characterised Orban's purge of gender studies in academia as a significant move reflecting the shift in conservative values.
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