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Donald Trump Jr. has hailed the strong personal relationship between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and US President Donald Trump as a possible basis for deepening economic ties between the two countries.
"My job is to connect governments and the private sector," he told a select group of business leaders at a closed-door forum in Budapest on April 24, hosted by the financial website Portfolio.hu. The visit was part of the "Trump Business Vision 2025" showcase, which focuses on uncovering investment opportunities across the region.
Trump Jr. said that while he had been part of his father's campaign team last summer, this time he was visiting Budapest on business.
In a video interview published on April 28, he told Portfolio.hu that he was constantly looking for new business opportunities. "Nobody knows when a Trump real estate deal might come up," he said.
Trump Jr. began his presentation by praising Hungary and its Central European peers for their successful transformation from communist times and their "common sense policies."
Drawing on his own personal history, he described how his political consciousness was formed at a young age. Spending summers in communist Czechoslovakia as a child, he vividly recalled being pulled aside at a Prague customs office in the 1980s for wearing a jacket with stars. “A soldier grabbed me with an AK-47 and asked me if I was here to spread American propaganda,” he said.
Eastern Europe has shown a remarkable transformation. Hungary, with its clean streets and strong leadership, stands out as a beacon of hope, a bastion of Western values in a continent struggling with its identity, he added.
Criticizing the liberal migration policies of Western European countries, he praised Hungary's refusal to let migrants in. The Orban government was fined 200 million euros by the EU's highest court for its failure to comply with an earlier ruling on asylum and return, and had to pay a fine of 1 million euros per day of delay.
Donald Trump's eldest son called this "one of the best deals of modern diplomacy."
He argued that the United States is undergoing a necessary economic pivot to reduce its dependence on China. He pointed to Central and Eastern Europe, and Hungary in particular, as key partners in this shift.
The speaker expressed optimism that the long-standing personal trust between his family and Viktor Orban would open up new opportunities for private sector cooperation, helping to make Hungary a bridge between East and West. While relations with the US suffered setbacks after 2020, he suggested that political changes have now opened the door to renewed cooperation.
In a jab at the Biden administration, Trump Jr. said U.S.-Hungarian relations had suffered because of Washington's hostility to Orban's nationalist policies and Trump's affiliation. However, he urged American businesses to recognize the investment potential in Hungary, singling out the pharmaceutical and technology sectors for closer cooperation.
In an extensive Q&A, he also shared personal stories about his father, recalling how he set difficult expectations for his children, rarely offered praise, and insisted that they work from a young age.
Turning to global issues, he said China, not Russia, poses the greatest threat to democracy. He defended the Trump administration's hard-line trade policies against Beijing. "There may be short-term pain, but we have to stick to our guns," he said.
He sharply criticized Chinese investment practices as exploitative and harmful to the beneficiary countries, which could be seen as subtle criticism or a warning to Hungary about its strategic ties with China.
He noted America's overreliance on China and Taiwan in critical industries such as pharmaceuticals and chip manufacturing and that the US should prepare for disruption. China's long-term strategy poses serious risks, he said.
America must rebuild its industrial base, even if it takes years to revive strategic industries. Companies have already pledged billions to invest in the US, and similarly, many businesses have announced plans to shift production from China, citing Apple's decision to start making iPhones in India by 2026.
On cryptocurrencies, Trump Jr. described the sector as a huge opportunity to democratize finance, while emphasizing the need for regulatory clarity to boost investor confidence.
He also warned that America must not allow adversaries to surpass it in areas such as artificial intelligence. / Adapt Pamphlet /
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