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PM Orbán’s billion-dollar wager on Trump: a seat at the top table, but at what cost amid Hungary’s debt spiral?
Hungary’s embattled prime minister, is no stranger to bold gambles. But splashing out $1 billion on a Trump-created “peace board” for Gaza? That’s a wager even Las Vegas might balk at—especially as Budapest teeters on the brink of economic ruin.
Yesterday, Orbán gleefully brandished a letter from President Trump inviting him to join the freshly minted Gaza Board of Peace as a founding member. “Where there is Trump, there is peace,” the Hungarian leader proclaimed, accepting with alacrity. What he omitted, however, was the small print: membership demands a cool USD 1 billion upfront. Hungary’s coffers may be bare, but Orbán appears only too happy to oblige.
A historic borrowing binge looms for 2026
Hungary’s economy has languished in recession since 2023, forcing the government to turn to foreign lenders. Beijing obliged in April 2024 with a EUR 1 billion loan, repayable by 2027. Now, according to the Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK Ltd)’s 2026 blueprint, Budapest plans to raise a staggering EUR 9.6 billion via bonds and loans this year alone.
Of that, EUR 3.1 billion will service expiring foreign debts, with the remaining €6.5 billion plugging the state’s yawning budget deficit, as Népszava reported in December. Last year, the ÁKK already issued EUR 7 billion in foreign-currency bonds.
Trump’s global peace crusade with Orbán
The Gaza Board’s grand title belies its ambitions: Trump envisions deploying it worldwide once the Middle East is “settled”. Yet even government-friendly index.hu admits a glaring oversight—America neglected to loop in Israel. Cue the Israeli foreign minister raising merry hell with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Orbán wasted no time: Trump invited over 60 world leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen—the European Council president Orbán loves to lambast as “pro-war” over Ukraine. With Trump as chairman, Hungary’s prompt acceptance signals the USD 1 billion transfer could be imminent.
What a reckless idiot to blow $1 billion of the money of Hungarians on a vanity project to associate Orban’s name with peace in Gaza. That $1 billion could go a long way to relieving poverty in Hungary, for health care, for public transit. Hungary is broke and dictator Orban is throwing money out the window. If fascist entity Trump wants participants to pay $1 billion to participate in this project let other countries do it that can better affford it.
To give Trump’s “Board of Peace” extra credibility he has invited wanted war criminal V. Putin to join it. There is no way Orban can give up the opporunity to mingle with close friends like Putin even if he has to blow $1 billion to do it. For a Hungarian family of four that represents approximately $450 gone. Imagine how far that money could go to help families that need it. If it was income tested you could give double that amount to the half of the population that needs it.