Senator Graham reportedly said: “Going to Mar-a-Lago is a little bit like going to North Korea. Everybody stands up and claps every time 'Old Donald' comes in.

And on that Mar-a-Lago he had many 'oinks', E-I-E-I-O
With many yes-yes here and yes-yes there
Here a oink, there a oink, everywhere a oink-oink

He gave a statement that Biden won the US presidential election in 2020, which is quite fair, but the former US president doesn't like to hear that. Bob Woodward also penned down in his book War that he has tried to offer the GOP nominee advice for the 2024 campaign of 'Old Donald' as his supporter and buddy of golf. Bob Woodward shared with 'Old Donald' following the midterm election that he should re-evaluate his political strategy to approach the broader v ..

The latest Freedom in the World report shows a decline in freedom for the 17th year in a row. Many autocrats are proving resilient. In China, tech companies have invented an electronic surveillance system that can automatically recognize a protest banner and demonstrators' faces - and alert the police.

Taiwan scored 94/100 in 2023

The Hungarian message is of concern to mainstream Republican foreign-policy officials, past and present, because it seems to be a vehicle for an ongoing influence campaign over 'Old Donald' and the many groups that are seeking his favor as he battles with Vice President Kamala Harris this fall to regain the American presidency.

It comes weeks after Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, a role in which it would normally host the event, and amid anger over a meeting Prime Minister Viktor Orban held with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this month.

Mr Orban's meeting with Mr Putin came as part of what he described as a "peace mission" - launched days after Hungary assumed the council presidency - that also saw him visiting the leaders of Ukraine and China , as well as Republican presidential candidate 'Old Donald' in the US .

A big chunk of the public actually wants an authoritarian leader. This is true worldwide, according to research, and no less so in what many Americans like to describe as the world's greatest democracy.

Why would people want to live under an authoritarian's thumb? It's rooted, experts say, in a psychological need for security-real or perceived-and a desire for conformity, a goal that becomes even more acute as the country undergoes dramatic demographic and social changes. People also like to obey a strong leader who will protect the group-especially if it is the 'right' group whose interests will be protected. Recall the 'Old Donald' supporter who, during the 2019 government shutdown, complained, 'He's not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.'

'For those of us who value representative democracy, the fact that some of our fellow citizens might prefer authoritarianism can be surprising or even unfathomable,' Joe Pierre, health sciences clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco's Weill Institute for Neurosciences, told me. But, he said, when people feel threatened-either by a lack of order or a challenge by people who think differently'a controlling leader looks like a savior.

'Authoritarianism and a 'strongman' leader who's willing to trample over civil rights can sound like a very appealing solution,' Pierre said. 'In turn, democracy-which tells us that our ideological opposites deserve to be heard or should be given equal voice-can sound like the root of the problem.' People who favor an authoritarian regime, notably, don't think it will be used against them, he noted, but 'to subjugate others and have their freedoms taken away.'

Mr. Orban said his meeting with Xi Jinping was part of a "peace mission" for Ukraine. But both leaders want to offset Western power

Zelenskyy said Orbán's parley with Putin, to which many EU leaders reacted with fury, hadn't been coordinated with Kyiv.

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In May, Mr. Orban had given Mr. Xi a red-carpet welcome in Budapest, China's efforts to restore its influence in Europe at a time when the European Union as a whole is trying to contain the reach of a country it views as a "systemic rival."

Hungary began its six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union this month, giving Mr. Orban a higher profile, though not much more influence, in European affairs. Still, Mr. Xi seemed to ask Mr. Orban to do what he could.

Mr. Orban has for years worked to curb criticism of China by the European Union, upsetting countries that support Washington's hawkish position on the need to counter what they see as unfair Chinese trade practices.

League of nationalists: How far can new Le Pen-Orban alliance go

The United States, however, has accused Beijing of helping the Kremlin meet its war goals in Ukraine by continuing to sell supplies such as drone technology and gunpowder ingredients to Moscow.

Ultimately, even if pragmatic relations prevail with a Biden administration, the extent of cooperation between the United States and Hungary would probably remain limited. But, nevertheless, if the United States takes its role as global advocate of democracy seriously and puts Orbán under significant pressure, this may be an important reminder for the EU and a real game changer in terms of how autocrats are treated in the Euro-Atlantic alliance.

So long, Sunak, Macron, Trudeau. Hello, Vlad, Viktor, and Kim. What would happen to the United States, and the world, if 'Old Donald' made it back to the Oval Office? The “leader of the free world” would become a fanboy follower in the unfree one.

At the press conference, 'Old Donald' is the first to speak. “I am honored to be with, well, they were just saying I’m the greatest president in history, I don’t know if that’s true, Lincoln was OK, but that’s what they’re saying. And these guys,” he says, gesturing to the men sitting behind him, “they’re fighting to defend our freedom and our civilization. And they’re running their countries properly, they run it strong. With crime, with terrorism, they run it strong. And we’re replacing NATO with something much better today, much tougher.”

The nationalist leader, speaking from the steps of the National Museum in central Budapest, drew a sharp contrast between his country and the 'Western world,' accusing the latter of being a source of rootlessness and destruction.

Opposition to immigration and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as a commitment to national pride and sovereignty, featured heavily in his comments on the national holiday, which often bore the tone of a campaign speech.

'Brussels is not the first empire that has set its eyes on Hungary,' Orbán said, referring to the EU’s de-facto capital. 'The peoples of Europe today are afraid that Brussels will take away their freedom. ... If we want to preserve Hungary's freedom and sovereignty, we have no choice: We have to occupy Brussels.' 'Old Donald' will not give a penny to Ukraine, said Orban

At their Friday meeting in Mr 'Old Donald''s Mar-a-Lago, the former US president praised his guest. "There's nobody that's better, smarter, or a better leader than Viktor Orban. He's fantastic," he said.

Viktor Orban has warned he could "pull the handbrake" on future financial aid to Ukraine, after slapping a veto on a €50bn (£43bn; $55bn) EU package intended to help his neighbour survive the next three years.