JD Vance made a surprise attempt to connect Donald Trump with a crowd in Budapest, Hungary, but the moment did not go as planned at first. Speaking at a “Day of Friendship” event on April 7, Vance told the audience he had arranged a special phone call before starting his speech.
“Before I started my remarks, I actually had a special guest that asked that I give him a phone call,” Vance said. He then warned the crowd, “Let’s hope he actually answers. This is going to be very embarrassing.”
When Vance made the first call, it went straight to voicemail. Holding his phone up to the microphone, he reacted with a simple “OK,” before trying again. “Let’s try one more time. I got to get a good signal here,” he added.
Trump joins the call and praises Orban
The second attempt worked. After a brief wait, Vance said, “Hello Mr. President, how are ya?” as the crowd cheered loudly. He told Trump, “Mr. President you are on with about 5,000 Hungarian patriots and I think they love you even more than they love Viktor Orbán.”
Trump responded by praising Hungary’s prime minister. “He’s a fantastic man, we’ve had a tremendous relationship… Remember this, he didn’t allow people to storm your country and invade your country like other people have, and ruin their countries frankly,” Trump said.
“He’s kept your country good… He’s done a fantastic job and let me tell you, I like him a lot but if I didn’t think he did a good job I wouldn’t be making a call like this,” he continued. Trump also said he is a “big fan of Viktor” and that the US is “with him all the way.”
Another awkward phone moment later
Later the same day, Vance had another unusual moment involving his phone during a press briefing with Orban. Vance replied, “I don’t—unless I have a text message from Steve Witkoff,” referring to Trump’s Middle East envoy. As he reached for his phone, he realised he had received a message. “I do have a message from Steve Witkoff,” he said. He then added, “Wouldn’t you like to know the subject of this message?” before saying he needed to read it first.
Trump’s strong warning on Iran
On the same day, Trump posted a strong warning about Iran on social media. “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” he wrote. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” He added that there was still a chance to avoid conflict, saying, “Maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?.” Now, US and Iran has agreed for a ceasefire for two weeks.