Trump’s victory threatens forint with collapse, Orbán cabinet happy and congratulates

The Hungarian forint is at a 2-year low against the American dollar following Donald Trump’s decisive victory. All regional currencies are struggling because the strong dollar is bad news for emerging currencies like the Czech koruna or the Polish zloty. Meanwhile, PM Viktor Orbán, who established a strong relationship with Trump in the past few years, congratulated the newly-elected President and talked about a “spectacular victory” and “the greatest comeback in Western political history”. FM Szijjártó expressed hopes towards a ‘top shape’ cooperation with America again.

Trump’s victory did not help the forint. The American dollar is at a 2-year-high against the Hungarian national currency and all emerging currencies are struggling in the region. The USD was at a historic peak against the forint on 8 October 2022 because of the economic difficulties following the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine.

The euro is also at a 22-month peak against the forint. The last time the EU currency was stronger was in December 2022 with 418. The exchange rate is now at 410/EUR but it was 412 earlier today.

Photo: FB/Orbán

PM Orbán congratulates, talks about “spectacular victory”

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán commented on the US presidential election on Wednesday and said “I see a spectacular victory, perhaps the greatest comeback in Western political history, a huge fight”. Speaking about Donald Trump, Orbán said that the Republican politician had first faced prison and a confiscation of his assets. He later faced an assassination attempt while “the whole media world of the US turned against him”, Orbán said, adding that “he has still won.”

He said it gave a great encouragement to everyone “who believes in will, struggle and perseverance, and a hope for peace for the world.”

It was hoped early this year that pro-peace forces would become a majority in the Western world by the end of the year and would defeat the pro-war camp, the prime minister said, adding that “there is now a great chance” to achieve that. He expressed hope for the economy to gain heat and for US-Hungary relations “to return to their golden era.”

Photo: Facebook/Orbán Balázs

“We have a number of plans that we can carry out together with President Donald Trump in the coming years,” Orbán said in a video published on Facebook. Interestingly, Orbán was addressed as President in the Reels video.

US-Hungary cooperation can get into a top shape

“The decision of American voters gives us good hopes that political cooperation between the United States and Hungary could again get into a top shape,” the foreign minister said on Facebook on Wednesday morning.

Péter Szijjártó highlighted that bilateral political relations had been at their peak during the first presidency of Donald Trump, when “dialogue and talks were in the focus of efforts aimed at resolving conflicts that jeopardised global security”. “We have similar positions concerning peace, illegal immigration and the protection of the family,” the minister said.

“We have the best ever chance so far for peace to return to Ukraine after almost a thousand days,” he added.

‘This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again,’ Trump says

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump early Wednesday thanked Americans for the apparent “honor of being elected” to the nation’s highest office, Anadolu news agency wrote.

“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president,” Trump told supporters in Palm Beach, Florida, referring to his earlier term in office, in 2017-2021, before Joe Biden won four years as the 46th US president.

According to Fox News projections, Trump ensured victory after defeating his Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s presidential election.

“This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again,” Trump added.

Pledging to fight for every citizen, he said: “We’re going to help our country heal.”

The win would make Trump only the second US president to serve non-consecutive terms, following Grover Cleveland, who served two separate terms in the late 1800s, with President Benjamin Harrison in between.

‘America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate’

Winning the vote was “very nice,” said Trump.

“America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate. We have taken back control of the Senate,” he added.

Turning to border security, an issue he pressed on the campaign trail, he promised to “fix” the borders.

“We’re gonna have to seal up those borders … We want people to come back in, but we have to let them come back in, but they have to come in legally,” Trump said.

Stressing security, he said: “We want to have security. We want to have things be good safe … We want a strong and powerful military, and ideally we don’t have to use it.”

Trump says he is ‘working to stop wars,’ not start them

During his first term, the US had no wars for four years, except for the defeat of terrorist group Daesh/ISIS, Trump said.

“We defeated ISIS in record time but we had no wars. They said: ‘He will start a war.’ I’m not going to start (one), (I’m) working to stop wars. But this is also a massive victory for democracy and for freedom,” he added.

Stressing that being the US president is “the most important job” in the world, Trump claimed that he had a “great” first term.

“Nothing will stop me from keeping my word to you, the people. We will make America safe, strong, prosperous, powerful and free again.

“And I’m asking every citizen all across our land to join me in this noble and righteous endeavor. That’s what it is. It’s time to put the divisions of the past four years behind us. It’s time to unite.”

Trump’s address saw the attendance of family members, allies, and close advisers, including tech billionaire Elon Musk.

“We have a new star. A star is born,” he said, referring to Musk, who endorsed Trump and is expected to play a role in his administration.

Separately, his running mate JD Vance thanked Trump for the trust he placed in him.

“I think that we just witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America,” Vance said in a short address to supporters.

Read also:

• PM Orbán and Hungary may become a policymaker in the USA if Trump wins: the background of their bromance – read more HERE
• Opinion: The Trump-Orbán bromance