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Trump will soon receive Orbán at the White House, after which the meeting can begin. Participants have started to arrive, and Vice President J.D. Vance and his entourage are already at the White House.

According to CNN's analysis this afternoon, if the meeting between the two leaders goes well, Trump could be lenient, but at the same time he could set a bad example by giving in to someone in terms of sanctions - even if it's an ideological ally.

Officially, the Hungarian delegation was expected at 5:30 PM Hungarian time, but for reasons unknown, it is currently delayed. Viktor Orbán posted on his Facebook page shortly after six: they are arriving soon.

After a little less than an hour of delay, the Hungarian delegation's car left the Orbáns' accommodation and will soon arrive at the White House. Donald Trump welcomed the Hungarian Prime Minister outside. After a quick greeting, they went inside, and soon the two leaders will begin Friday's meeting with a short, public conversation.

"It's a great honor to have a friend here," Trump began the conversation. After some praise, he said they would talk about energy and Ukraine. He then said that energy prices in the United States are lower this year than they were last year under Joe Biden.

Viktor Orbán soon took the floor, starting by saying that after a good six years, they were returning to the White House, where they had arrived today to open a new chapter in bilateral relations, because under Biden, everything that was built during Trump's last presidency was destroyed. But during Trump's 10-month presidency, he has already done a lot for the relationship between the two states, says Orbán, which will now be built even further. He then spoke about the fact that an important goal today is to help Trump end the war in Ukraine.

The leaders were first asked by journalists about the sanctions. Should Hungary divest itself of Russian oil? Trump responded by denouncing the government's position: we have no port, so we are forced to buy oil from the Russians. In his response, Trump also mentioned that other countries also buy Russian oil.

Orbán also added to the answer, saying that he also believes that it is a physical reality, meaning that we have to buy oil through the Barátság pipeline. A journalist asked the question that there are two oil pipelines in the country, why can't they be diversified. According to Orbán, the pipeline coming from Croatia is currently unable to meet Hungarian needs.

"Orbán is respected by everyone, and some people like him. I respect him and I like him, so I hope he will be very successful in the next elections," Trump said after praising Orbán's migration policy.

The Budapest meeting was also discussed, and Orbán said they would end this war. Trump is making great efforts on this issue, he said, but added that this left the US and Hungary alone, because Brussels has a different position. Then Trump asked back: so you are saying that Ukraine cannot win this war? To which Orbán replied: miracles can happen. They also said that the Budapest meeting would of course be discussed during the working lunch, and that they would report on the situation afterwards.

Trump has repeatedly brought up Orbán's migration policy, saying that Orbán was right before, and that other EU leaders should also acknowledge this, the American president stressed. After Orbán also spoke about: the price of this policy is that we pay one million euros a day into the EU coffers.

The US president was asked if he would do anything to ensure that Hungary is not punished for its migration policy, to which Trump said that he is a good friend of every European leader and that he usually asks them to respect Orbán. He then added that just as in Hungary, the number of immigrants in the US is zero. After that, Orbán said that he did not come to the US president to resolve his conflicts, but to open a new chapter in Hungarian-American relations.

What is the main reason that prevented the Budapest meeting? – Trump was asked, to which the answer, according to the president, is simple: they do not want to stop the war for now, he said, adding that Russia is losing many more people, so the moment will soon come when they will be able to end this. This is expected in the “not too distant” future, said the American president, who also mentioned that if it had not been for Biden’s presidency, there would not be this war.

Orbán agreed with him on this, confirming that if Trump had remained the US president in 2020, the Russian-Ukrainian war would not have broken out. He then added that he had arrived today to do everything in his power to promote peace.

In response to a later question, Trump confirmed that he would still meet with Putin in Budapest, having previously canceled because he felt it would be pointless. Is it possible to put pressure on Putin to negotiate? The question was asked, to which Trump simply replied that the war could soon be coming to an end. Orbán, on the other hand, said that he had ideas for ending the conflict, but that he would discuss them with Trump.

"I don't know if Orbán will have an opponent, but I will support him in the election regardless," Trump replied when asked if he would support Orbán in the spring elections.

After the two leaders' brief public meeting, an official working lunch will begin, to which members of the press are no longer invited. After that, Donald Trump will hold a press conference at 9:30 p.m. Hungarian time, when more details about the meeting may be revealed.

This is the situation in which Viktor Orbán and his entourage arrive at the White House.

Viktor Orbán arrived in Washington on Thursday evening with a 180-person entourage, accompanied by half the government, friendly press, propaganda experts and several company executives. The most sensitive issues between the two leaders are expected to revolve around energy. It seems that after the European Union, Trump would increasingly expect Hungary to divest itself of Russian oil and gas and instead buy American LNG. However, it is of paramount importance for Hungarians to receive exemption from the American sanctions imposed on Russian energy sources.

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó had earlier announced on Friday that he had reached a nuclear agreement with his American counterpart, but indicated that he had not yet managed to secure Paks II.’s exemption from sanctions (which the government received in the summer, but only until the end of this year). The foreign minister did not provide details about the nuclear agreement, but according to Bloomberg, the Hungarian government would purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) for $600 million and nuclear fuel for $100 million.

Since - according to Trump - Orbán did not receive exemption from the US sanctions announced against the Russians despite the fact that he requested it, an important question at Friday's meeting will be what the good relationship between the two leaders"can do" for Hungary, i.e. what commitments and concessions the Hungarian delegation must make in exchange for exemption, or whether they can achieve it at all.