The average US gallon of gas costs under $3, the Dow Jones is up 13.5 per cent YTD despite April’s 13 per cent drop amidst the tariff frenzy, and JD Vance seems set for the 2028 Republican nomination. Yet the government shut down for 43 days, letting Democrats win NJ and VA gubernatorial races: here are the second Trump admin’s biggest Ws and Ls for 2025!
About two weeks after political podcaster Tim Pool claimed shots were fired at his rural West Virginia residence, the local police still cannot confirm if the incident actually took place as described. Many questions linger about the incident, with multiple twists and turns in the updates.
At an online press conference, Samuel D Samson, Senior Advisor at the US State Department, expressed his gratitude to Hungary for the work it has done on issues such as family support, pursuing peace, and combating censorship. He later described Hungary as ‘a leader in Europe in defending civilizational values’.
‘The speaker pointed out that the city of Budapest, where the event was taking place, withstood the oppressions of the Mongols, the Ottomans, the Nazis, and the Soviets, yet it remained committed to its Western values. He then likened those oppressions to those coming from the EU, which, he believes, is working to suppress national identity and nationalist and conservative sentiments.’
Miklós Szánthó warned that Brussels’ plan to seize frozen Russian assets amounts to a ‘message of war’, and spoke out against the EU circumventing Hungary’s veto on the matter. He also shared that at an anti-war rally, PM Viktor Orbán said Europe faces three dangers: war, migration, and political interference from Brussels in national elections.
‘Imagine if the annulment of a national election result that took place in Romania in 2024 had happened in Hungary…It is not hard to imagine what kind of media coverage it would have gotten had the highest court in Hungary made such a decision…The Western media’s favourite terms, “authoritarian”, “totalitarian”, and “right-wing fascist” would have been used like machine gun fire.’
Hungary has already broken its 2024 tourism record, welcoming over 18.2 million guests by 2 December. With balanced domestic and international visitor numbers, Budapest and Lake Balaton remain top destinations, and strong holiday-season bookings point to another successful year ahead, Visit Hungary has shared.
With 21 out of the 40 Republican State Senators joining the ten Democrats, a new congressional map for the state of Indiana that would have presumably given two more seats to the GOP has been rejected by the Indiana General Assembly. This is a major setback for President Trump’s party, in a midterm election that is shaping up to be a lot closer than it was during his first term.
Ferencváros came back against the Scottish side Rangers, beating them 2–1 at home. With that victory, not only did they keep their unbeaten record in the Europa League campaign, but they also secured their spot in the knock-out stage of the competition next spring.
In an open letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia has called on the EU to abandon the dogmatic approach to climate policy and chase the net zero agenda for the sake of the struggling European industry, especially the automotive sector. The letter was co-signed by five other PMs, including Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Giorgia Meloni of Italy.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary has been included in POLITICO 28 again this year, the annual list of the most influential European figures by the political site. PM Orbán is ranked at #12, although his write-up is the most complimentary by the editors. US President Donald Trump has been ranked #1 on the list.
Responding to the Tisza Party’s leaked economic programme proposing tax hikes and austerity measures, the Center for Fundamental Rights and the Oeconomus Economic Research Foundation launched the #FreeHungariansAgainstAusterity task force. At the kick-off event, experts stressed the sharp contrast between Fidesz’s economic policy and the opposition’s plans.
President Santiago Peña, a member of the conservative Colorado Party, became the first incumbent Paraguayan President to visit Hungary in 30 years. He has met with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, President Tamás Sulyok, and House Speaker László Kövér of Hungary as well.
The first BYD production equipment has arrived in Szeged, Hungary, with trial manufacturing set for Q1 2026 and full production in Q2, the Chinese automotive industry news site CarNewsChina.com reported.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine has met with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany in London to secure continued European war aid to his nation. After the meeting, he told reporters that Ukraine has ‘no legal or moral right’ to cede land to Russia. Dr Sándor Seremet from the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs has commented on the latest development in the Russo–Ukrainian war.
Gergely Gulyás warned that the Tisza Party’s plans would require massive austerity and billions in spending cuts. He argued the party would scrap taxes on multinationals, shifting the burden to citizens, and said a Tisza–DK coalition would risk repeating past left-wing austerity cycles.
Tim Pool, a popular right-wing podcaster and influencer, has claimed in an X post that a vehicle approached and opened fire at his residence in West Virginia on Friday night. All this is happening just three months after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The group stage draw for FIFA World Cup 2026, held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, has been made, with the help of US President Donald Trump. England v Croatia, Kylian Mbappé’s France v Erling Haaland’s Norway, Brazil v Morocco, and many other exciting fixtures are on the schedule for next year’s tournament.
The person who placed two pipebombs at the Republican and Democratic National Committee HQs on the eve of the 6 January Capitol riots has been arrested and identified as 30-year-old black anarchist Brian Cole Jr. Despite 5,000 FBI agents working on the 6 January case under President Biden, who made around 1,500 arrests, the pipe bomber managed to evade authorites for nearly five years.
The launch of Budapest — What We Are Proud Of photo album at the Museum of Ethnography celebrated the city’s recent architectural renaissance. It featured distinguished guests such as architect Sándor Finta, pianist János Balázs, Ministerial Commissioner for the Liget Project László Baán, and famous Hungarian TV host Nóra Ördög.
A full-scale bronze statue of legendary Hungarian footballer József Bozsik of the 1950s ‘Mighty Magyars’ team has been unveiled in Budapest, Hungary. Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó of Hungary, who now also serves as the Chairman of Bozsik’s club Budapest Honvéd, was among the attendees of the event.
Matt Van Epps of the Republican Party defeated Democrat nominee Aftyn Behn, who has been dubbed as ‘the AOC of Tennessee’ by right-wing media, in the special election for the vacant seat in the US House of Representatives in Tennessee’s 7th congressional district. The GOP retains their 220 House seats, while Democrats currently have 214.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Polish MP Marcin Romanowski for the right-wing PiS party has lauded the decision by the Constitutional Court of Poland to stop Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s effort to establish a ‘liberal juristocracy’ in the country.
The CJEU has again ruled against Hungary in a migration case, overriding the Curia of Hungary by invoking the primacy of EU law. The decision reflects Brussels’s push to centralize control over migration and weaken its Member States’ sovereignty, allowing a foreign national expelled by Hungary due to a lack of income to stay in the country.
The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline has fallen to $2.998 in the United States, according to AAA. The last time the average gas price was below $3 was on 11 May 2021; and it even climbed up to as high as $5.016 in the summer of 2022 during the Biden administration.
Hungarian champions Ferencváros remain unbeaten in the UEFA Europa League league phase, after tying Turkish giants Fenerbahçe SK away from home. Remarkably, striker Barnabás Varga has scored his 14th header for the season for club and country.
At a joint press conference in Serbia, PM Viktor Orbán of Hungary and President Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia emphasized deepening energy cooperation, including the accelerated construction of the Hungary–Serbia oil pipeline. Vučić thanked Hungary for its steady political support as Serbia navigates energy challenges tied to sanctions.
A 29-year-old Afghan national, who was allowed into the United States under President Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome programme after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, has shot two members of the National Guard near the White House in Washington, DC. The two victims are in critical condition, as is the perpetrator, who was hit by return fire.
Young Hungarians consider the flag, the Anthem, the coat of arms, and the Holy Crown the most important national symbols, with the Anthem seen as the strongest expression of national sentiment. Rural youth place more emotional weight on the anthem, while views on the Holy Crown vary widely by age, gender, and location, according to a new survey by the MCC Youth Research Institute.
Prime Minister Orbán of Hungary has recently put out an unusual tourism ad, urging people to visit Hungary this holiday season, as there are no illegal migrants here. This prompted a response not just from many X users praising it, but the British newspaper The Telegraph and a long-time critic of Orbán, German MEP Daniel Freund as well.