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In Trump, Hungary's Viktor Orban Has A Rare Ally In The Oval Office

When the Hungarian prime minister meets with President Trump on Monday, it will mark a coming together of two leaders known for their nationalist worldviews and hardline immigration policies.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks to the media from Berlin on July 5, 2018.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visits the White House on Monday, his first formal meeting with a U.S. president in more than 20 years.

Bill Clinton received Orban, now one of Europe's most prominent nationalists, in 1998, back when the Hungarian leader was a 35-year-old reformist who had earned his pro-democracy street cred as an anti-Soviet activist. Orban had helped his country transition out of communism.

Today, Orban is running Hungary like a "soft autocracy," according to one biographer, and alarming the European Union. The Obama administration limited diplomatic ties with Hungary over concern that Orban is undermining democratic values.

But he's found a kindred spirit in Trump, a fellow nationalist. Trump's former chief

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