Please subscribe to Fox News to access this content
Plus, with your account you get exclusive access to handpicked articles and other premium content for free.
By entering your email address and pressing “Continue”, you agree to Fox News' Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, including the Financial Incentive Notice.
Please enter a valid email address.
Having problems? Click here.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban continues to unsettle European leaders by appearing to support Donald Trump and questioning whether President Biden is eligible to run for a second term.
“We continued our peace work at Mar-a-Lago,” Orban wrote on X's official social media account. “President @realDonaldTrump has proven himself a man of peace during his presidency, and he will do so again!”
“It was an honor to visit with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago today,” he wrote in another post, labelling the visit “Peace Mission 5.0.” “We discussed how to make peace happen. The good news today is that he's going to figure it out!”
Orban abruptly left a NATO summit in Washington, D.C. on Thursday to visit President Trump in Florida, one of several frequent visits by Orban since Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the European Union last week.
Russia plots to kill CEO of German arms manufacturer who is a thorn in Moscow's side
Orban's work is largely administrative in nature, but he has visited Russia, Ukraine and China in the past 10 days and framed the trips as part of a peace mission, although European leaders have repeatedly stressed that he does not represent the views of the European Union.
European Council President Charles Michel stressed that “the rotating presidency system does not represent the EU externally.”
“The position is clear,” Michel told Euronews. “This visit by the Hungarian prime minister is not a visit on behalf of the EU.”
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis says NATO must act to stop Putin
Orban continues to attract attention after it was revealed that at a state dinner on Wednesday during the NATO summit, he told other leaders that NATO allies who believe Biden can still win the next presidential election are “like passengers on the Titanic playing the violin on a sinking ship,” according to the Financial Times.
Biden made the gaffe by calling the Ukrainian president “President Putin” rather than Zelensky before his Thursday night press conference (which his campaign had been billing all week as a “big boy” press conference), in which he noted the great work of “Vice President Trump.”
President Donald Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a visit to Mar-a-Lago, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (@PM_ViktorOrban)
“If I slowed down and I didn't get the job done, that would be a sign that I shouldn't be doing it,” Biden argued. “But we haven't seen that yet.”
Other leaders rejected the “pessimism” about Biden, claiming the president was “fully present” during the summit, with many rallying to boost Biden's image, the outlet said.
Blinken says US F-16 fighter jets heading to Ukraine from Denmark, Netherlands
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer praised the president, saying he was “speaking clearly about issues he knows well, taking responsibility” and was “on good form,” the BBC reported.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, U.S. President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary of State Jens Stoltenberg attend the North Atlantic Council summit during the NATO summit in Washington, DC, July 10, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“I have always found him to be a president who is in charge and has clear ideas on issues he knows well,” Macron said. “Everyone lets their tongues slip sometimes. I have done it before and maybe tomorrow.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also dismissed the gaffe as a “slip of the tongue”, claiming that “if you watch everyone all the time you'll find enough gaffes.”
Click here to get the FOX News app
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he had “no concerns at all about the ability of the current US president to lead his country, to lead the fight against Ukraine and to lead NATO,” but acknowledged he was concerned about the “toxic” and “polarized” political situation in the United States.
Russian media picked up on Biden's gaffe, with one outlet using it as an excuse to call Biden “demented” and ask, “Which is more dangerous: a monkey with a grenade or a trembling hand pressing the nuclear button?”