Orbán Attends Trump's Second Inauguration — Positions Hungary as MAGA's EU Ally

On January 20, 2025, Viktor Orbán attended Donald Trump's second presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., one of the few EU leaders to receive a prominent invitation. Orbán was photographed with Trump, Elon Musk, and other MAGA figures. The optics reinforced Budapest's self-positioning as the primary European partner of Trump's America First movement. Orbán had cultivated Trump ties since his first term; Trump supporters and figures like Tucker Carlson frequently praised Hungary as a model conservative state. EU allies were deeply uncomfortable.