Donald Trump’s first weeks in office have been everything he promised and more. He’s deporting migrants by the planeload, cutting deals with autocrats, all while systematically dismantling the federal government. He is literally “flooding the zone with sh**t.”
And, apparently, more than a few Americans like what they see.
But turn toward Hungary, long a bastion of right-wing fever dreams and the inspiration for Trump’s own playbook, to get a glimpse of where all this is likely headed.
Hungary’s blustering Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán—who, like Trump, traded in racism and anti-immigrant xenophobia to grow his political base—now finds himself staring down a sputtering economy and a critical shortage of workers, all while having hollowed out and dismantled the country’s democratic institutions.
And much as Trump is angling to centralize power in his own hands, Orbán wields unchecked power in today’s Hungary, with dire consequences for the country.
Fifteen years into his rule, Hungary’s economy is forecast to grow between just 0.5 and 0.7% in 2025, a far cry from the government’s own target of 4%. Inflation, meanwhile, continues to rise while some 77% of businesses say they are struggling to fill job openings. Hungary’s labor shortage is at a 15-year high.
But again, like Trump, a key element of Orbán’s narrative is scapegoating, particularly by inciting hatred against immigrants. According to this narrative, he is the one protecting Hungary from the likes of George Soros, the European Union (Brussels), the so-called ‘gender lobby,’ and immigrants.
Early on in his tenure, Orbán established prison-like transit zones on the Serbian Hungarian border, which were only open toward Serbia. Asylum seekers, including children, were housed in inhumane conditions for months or even years, leading to repeated sanctions against Hungary by the European Union. (Hungary assumed it’s six-month, rotating presidency of the EU Council in July, a position human rights groups say it is using to undermine EU policies.)
Today, a majority of asylum applications are now automatically rejected.
Sound familiar? It should.
“Your head will spin with all the wild stuff they try to pull, new things every day,” writes human rights lawyer Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin on Bluesky, quoting a Hungarian friend who fled the country following Orbán’s rise. “But don’t take your eyes off the money. It’s all about the money, and what they’re stealing, and for whom.”
For whom, indeed?
Orbán’s daughter and son-in-law have become billionaire media moguls, owning some of the country’s most significant real estate, castles, and hotels. Orbán’s father owns a Habsburg noble’s castle and has become a mining magnate. Orbán’s childhood friend, once a village gas fitter, is now the richest man in Hungary, even making it onto the Forbes list of the world’s wealthiest individuals. (There is widespread consensus in Hungary that this former gas fitter is merely a front for Orbán, managing his wealth.)
Just last month, the US imposed sanctions on Orbán’s closest confidant, Antal Rogán, who heads the government’s media arm and oversees intelligence services. The charges claim that Rogán leveraged his position to funnel millions in EU funds to himself and his political allies.
Per Reuters: “Those closely connected to the ruling political party have acquired massive empires of holdings,” said U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman, calling Rogán “a primary architect, implementer, and beneficiary of this system of corruption.”
Rogán—likely working at the behest of Orbán—reportedly sold residency permits to criminals, terrorists, and intelligence agents from around the world, primarily from China and Russia, both of which have deepened their ties to Budapest, now a key European hub for Russian and Chinese intelligence operations.
Under such conditions, Hungarians are voting with their feet, leaving the country in droves to seek work in the EU. The situation has become so dire that Orbán is now forced to bring in guest workers from Asia, as the country is running out of even basic laborers like bus drivers.
In 2023, Hungary “passed a law allowing guest workers from 15 non-EU countries to stay in the country for up to three years,” reports Politico.
So, while he rejects refugees and migrants, stoking hatred against them, Orbán imports foreign laborers under exploitative conditions, treating them like disposable commodities.
As Trump follows through with his own large-scale deportations, the U.S. labor market will likely face similar shortages. Should we expect anything different in response?
“There is a great man, a great leader in Europe — Viktor Orban,” declared Trump in January of last year. “He is the prime minister of Hungary. He is a very great leader, a very strong man.”
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly denied knowledge of Project 2025, the 900+ page manuscript that is now at the center of his assault on the federal government and the US Constitution. The drafters of Project 2025, led by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, have known ties to Orbán’s Danube Institute, a conservative think tank tied to the prime minister’s propaganda machine.
Hungary today should stand as a warning, foreshadowing the consequences of Trump’s policies going forward. Orbán has created a monstrous state, one that should serve as a glaring red flag for America.
Laszlo Bartus is owner and editor of Amerikai Nepszava, the nation’s oldest Hungarian-language newspaper based in New York City.
