On Friday afternoon, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and US President Donald Trump sat down at the White House to discuss ways to put bilateral relations on a new footing after the frosty relationship that characterized the previous Democratic administration. The meeting was preceded by serious anticipation. On his way to Washington, Viktor Orbán told Indexthatthe stakes of the meeting were a “life-or-death matter” for Hungary, which a friend would not trade.

The prime minister was referring to American sanctions against Russian oil companies, which the government believes would destroy Hungary. To avoid this, the unusually large Hungarian delegation, reinforced with ministers and businessmen, arrived in Washington with a package worth tens of billions of dollars, because friendship or not, the American president primarily understands the language of business.

The expectations are reflected in the forint's appreciation to a one-and-a-half-year high on Friday, and hours before the meeting, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó spoke of a historic agreement when he announced the signing of the intergovernmental nuclear energy cooperation agreement. Under this agreement, Hungary will purchase American nuclear fuel elements for the first time in its history and acquire modern technology for the safe storage of spent fuel elements.

The meeting started late, Donald Trump immediately greeted Viktor Orbán

Viktor Orbán left Blair House, the presidential guest house, for the White House, which is within walking distance of the Hungarian prime minister's residence, almost an hour later than originally planned, but for security reasons he made the less than one-minute journey by limousine. He was welcomed at the White House by Donald Trump, who called his guest a great leader, and they entered the building almost immediately, where they were followed by members of the Hungarian delegation, including Péter Szijjártó, János Lázár and Balázs Orbán.

Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán appeared before the press a few minutes later, and the Hungarian Prime Minister thanked them for the invitation. They said they were here today to open a new chapter in the relations between the two countries, as the previous, Democratic administration caused a lot of damage. They want to open a golden age for the United States and Hungary, but the main thing is to contribute to peace efforts. Trump then interjected that Hungary has taken in a lot of Ukrainian refugees, for which it deserves gratitude.

Oil is a tough business, migration is destroying Europe

Journalists immediately asked them about Russian oil, and Trump called it a very difficult matter, noting that Hungary has no sea connection, and many European countries also buy Russian oil, even though they are not in such a difficult geographical position.

Viktor Orbán said he would like to explain what consequences the sanction would have for Hungarians  and the economy. According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, the issue of natural gas and oil must be separated, as the latter comes through two pipelines, from Ukraine and Croatia, but the latter cannot supply the country on its own.

Donald Trump then called Viktor Orbán an excellent leader, emphasizing that, unlike him, Europe had made serious mistakes on immigration issues.

I like and respect him, he is leading the country well and will be successful in the election

– the American president repeated his previous statement. The Hungarian Prime Minister added that Hungary is a unique, special island in liberal Europe, with its modern, Christian government.

Trump promised information about the peace summit later, but they agreed that the war must be ended as soon as possible. Viktor Orbán responded to this by saying that he believes Trump is making a serious effort for peace, but Brussels and European countries do not support him in this, and the Western response is not unified. According to him, only the American and Hungarian governments are pro-peace, everyone else thinks that Ukraine can win the war on the battlefield.

The following conversation then took place between Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán:

– So you think Ukraine can’t win the war?

– Miracles can still happen

– Orbán replied, to which Trump smiled.

According to Donald Trump, the Hungarian Prime Minister deserves respect, if only for his measures in the field of migration. “We see what is happening in other friendly countries, and they are starting to realize that Viktor Orbán was right, and maybe they secretly respect him for that,” said the American president. Viktor Orbán added that the number of illegal immigrants in Hungary is zero, but we have to pay a fine of one million euros per day  for our anti-migration measures. According to Donald Trump, crime is rampant in other European countries, and this is ruining them.

Index question for Trump: European Union or Viktor Orbán?

Turning to the peace summit, Donald Trump said that the main problem is that the Russians do not want to stop. Both sides are losing a lot of soldiers, and there is also no financial rationality for the war. He believes that sooner or later Putin will also want peace, since he is losing seven thousand soldiers a week, more than Ukraine, and the war is a big burden for Russia.

The president said he inherited this war, but he will soon end it. According to Viktor Orbán, the war would not have broken out if the president had been called Trump at the time, and he understands the president's commitment to peace, as the previous administration and Europe made a serious mistake in handling the war. According to Donald Trump, this war should have ended in a week or never broke out, and if he had been president, Ukraine would not have lost territory.

When asked by the Index correspondent whether he would have better relations with EU leaders or Viktor Orbán, Trump replied that he didn't have to choose, he was on good terms with everyone, and Hungary is also part of the European Union, but he agreed with Viktor Orbán on the issue of migration.

He also said that he would like to hold the peace summit in Budapest when the time comes, there is no change in that.

“I don’t know his opponent, I will support Viktor Orbán in the election,” said the American president, who said that the Biden administration has practically given up on Hungary, but he respects Viktor Orbán and they have a good relationship. He then recalled that economic cooperation between the United States and Hungary has been very good in recent times, so he doesn’t see the point in Hungarians changing this when they are receiving so much American investment. The American president was then questioned by journalists primarily about domestic policy issues, and the press conference ended after 40 minutes. The closed-door working lunch is coming up, and we will continuously broadcast the developments of the meeting between Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán on Index, you can find our minute-by-minute coverage here.