Donald Trump is Rapidly Losing Right-Wing Allies in Europe
Viktor Orbán was quick to concede an election defeat in Hungary's parliamentary ballot, whose result on Sunday signals the U.S. president's waning influence among the right in Europe.
A visit by Vice President JD Vance backing Orbán did nothing to stop the landslide victory of Péter Magyar, leader of the Tisza Party. The result spelled the end of Orbánr's 16 years as prime minister, during which he tightened ties with populist and illiberal forces while enjoying Trump team backing.
"It shows the limitations of the MAGA influence and, of course, it makes Vance and Trump look a little bit ridiculous after all the support they’ve given Orbán," Fabienne Hara, Europe program director at the International Crisis Group told Newsweek.
Alternative for Germany (AfD) MP Matthias Moosdorf said Orbán’s “ostentatious friendship” with the current U.S. administration “hung like millstones" around the former prime minister's neck and serves as a warning to others.
But Majda Ruge, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) described this as an "exaggeration" and said it did not acknowledge how accusations of corruption and abuse of power levelled at Orbán had created his own downfall.
"Péter Magyar is not someone Trump and MAGA can easily discredit as a leftist liberal leader-he is conservative on a number of cultural and national issues," she told Newsweek. "But he is pro-EU and pro-rule of law, which are not necessarily values the Trump administration will endorse."
Jeremy Holt, head of Central and Eastern Europe at S-RM, a geopolitical and cyber risk consultancy, said that Vance was a relatively unknown figure in Hungary, and his visit days before the ballot likely only served to distance Hungarian voters further from Fidesz.
Trump and Orbán's relationship did not provide significant economic or political benefit to Hungary and may, in fact, have served to distance Orbán from Hungarian voters, for whom Budapest's relationship with the U.S. was not a key issue, Holt said.
"Hungary’s economic ties to the U.S. are weak, especially when compared to its ties to the EU and neighboring countries, and it has never been a significant investment target for the U.S." Holt told Newsweek. "This was exacerbated by Trump’s flagging campaign against Iran, his threats to NATO unity, and the anti-EU sentiment put forward by his administration."
The Iran War Effect
To lose one right-wing ally in the heart of the EU may be unfortunate for Trump, but losing two could be considered carelessness following a rebuke of the president from Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni.
She said Trump’s condemnation of Pope Leo XIV's veiled criticism of the Iran War, was “unacceptable,” marking a growing willingness to rebuff the U.S. president among those who have cultivated ties with him.
Increasing costs for voters caused by the conflict have alienated Trump’s traditional political backers in Europe. Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, often pictured with the U.S. president whom he has called a “friend”, publicly questioned his lack of an exit strategy for Iran, saying: “I don’t know where this war ends.”
Stijn van Kessel, professor of comparative politics at Queen Mary University in London, said the re-election of Trump in 2024 was framed as another victory for conservative nationalism and there was an overlap with his ideology and far-right actors.
The growing wariness among some of Europe's far-right figures follows erratic foreign policy decisions in the last 16 months, such as repeated threats to seize Greenland, tariffs and the costs for consumers caused by the Iran war.
"He has become a liability to the far-right rather than a real asset," van Kessel told Newsweek. "Far-right actors that were quite close to Trump are now starting to distance themselves because they see that his actions are simply not popular among their own supporters."
"Far-right parties’ positions can be quite changeable regarding foreign leaders and issues that happen at the international stage," he said. “Ultimately, these parties want to present themselves as defenders of the national interest."
Nick Sergeef, senior analyst, at S-RM said Orbán's stance on Trump contrasted with other far-right leaders in Europe who have lately either ignored the president or distanced themselves from him over the Iran conflict and social media controversies.
"Trump’s status as an asset to the European far right appears weakened, primarily because of his unpredictable approach to international relations," Sergeef told Newsweek.
Trump's disparaging of NATO's European members and his tariffs policy have prompted a fightback from the continent, which is placing less reliance on Washington.
France has said it would move some of its government systems off Windows and onto Linux and its civil servants will ditch Zoom and Teams for a homegrown video conference system, according to reports.
Trump continues to rail at what he sees as a reluctance in Europe to help with the Iran war, which could isolate him further from the right.
Hara from the Crisis Group said that the Iran war is unpopular in Europe, including among voters from nationalist parties, who see its negative consequences regarding migration and displacement.
"All the far-right parties in Europe are all distancing themselves because they see that he’s too imperialistic," she said. “He’s actually intervening militarily elsewhere and they don’t like that."
Newsweek's reporters and editors used Martyn, our Al assistant, to help produce this story. Learn more about Martyn.
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This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 9:32 AM.