‘New man is going to do good job,’ Trump says as he unexpectedly distances himself from Orbán

US president Donald Trump told ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl ‌he was not concerned about Viktor Orbán’s loss in Hungary, and that he actually likes incoming prime minister Péter Magyar.

“I think the new man’s going to do a ⁠good job – he’s a good man,” Trump told the reporter, Reuters reported.

Trump told the reporter he did not know if it would have made a difference if he had gone to Hungary instead of vice-president JD Vance to campaign for Orban.

“He was behind ‌substantially,” ⁠Trump said. “I wasn’t that involved in this one. Viktor’s a good man, though.”

Trump’s claim he “wasn’t involved in this one” will obviously come as, erm, a bit of a surprise given his actual heavy involvement in the election campaign, including several endorsements of Orbán on social media and his decision to send JD Vance to Budapest in the last days before the vote.

Many commentators wondered how quickly the US president would move on from Orbán given his electoral defeat to avoid being seen as supporting – in his language – “losers,” but I don’t think anyone would have predicted it happening just so quickly.

But Magyar clearly enjoyed the praise, posting Trump’s comments on his social media.

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