Orbán’s new public enemy: A Twitter-savvy U.S. ambassador

BUDAPEST — On an aboriginal greeting thrust from his residence to the U.S. Embassy, David Pressman kept a adjacent oculus connected his surroundings. 

Look, the caller U.S. ambassador to Hungary said, pointing retired the government-funded billboards dotting Budapest’s streets. 

“The Brussels sanctions are ruining us!” they declared, the connection “sanctions” emblazoned crossed a flying bomb.

One by one, the posters whizzed by, blaring the aforesaid ominous warning.

These types of signs person been a diagnostic of the Budapest scenery for years, spinning up a conspiratorial assemblage of overseas enemies Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has utilized to instill fearfulness and choler successful the Hungarian colonisation arsenic helium vies to support his grip connected power. 

But historically, the U.S. — similar galore of its Western partners — has stayed comparatively quiescent successful nationalist astir these targeted messaging campaigns and the emergence of anti-Western authorities rhetoric, which often reflected the country’s antiauthoritarian backsliding and the section power of Russian propaganda. 

With Pressman, that has changed. Pressman’s beingness unsocial is an implicit rebuke of Orbán’s strongman, civilization wars agenda. Pressman is simply a quality rights lawyer, has a antheral spouse and has worked intimately with George Clooney, a totem of the Fox News-caricatured “Hollywood wide elite.”

And successful conscionable 2 months connected the job, the caller American ambassador has go a household sanction successful Budapest for his willingness to telephone retired — and adjacent troll — the Orbán government’s overtly propagandistic and conspiratorial bombast.

There is, Pressman said successful his archetypal interrogation since taking his post, a “need to beryllium some respectful and much candid astir what we’re seeing.”

Recently, the U.S. embassy posted a once-unthinkable video quiz challenging radical to conjecture whether quotes came from Hungarian nationalist figures oregon Russian President Vladimir Putin. The answer, of course, was ne'er Putin.

“I’m acrophobic erstwhile I spot missiles flying from Moscow into children’s playgrounds successful Kyiv — and spot the overseas curate of Hungary flying into Moscow to bash Facebook Live conferences from Gazprom headquarters,” the ambassador told POLITICO.  

For this approach, Pressman has go the latest overseas force successful Budapest.

In a state that precocious banned the portrayal of LGBTQ+ contented to minors, Pressman has enactment his idiosyncratic beingness connected show | Janka Szitas/U.S. Embassy Budapest

The newspapers screen him regularly — “Clown diplomacy,” 1 declared. State-owned and Orbán-friendly TV channels are likewise obsessed, portraying the American ambassador arsenic a secretive assemblage overlord sent to meddle successful Hungary’s interior affairs.

And successful a state that precocious banned the portrayal of LGBTQ+ contented to minors, Pressman has enactment his idiosyncratic beingness connected display, posting photos of his spouse and their 2 kids arsenic they arrived to contiguous his diplomatic credentials. 

“I deliberation it speaks for itself,” Pressman said. “Sometimes the powerfulness of example,” helium added, “is the astir almighty mode we tin pass astir shared values and concerns.” 

In galore ways, Pressman’s communicative is emblematic of the improvement of the broader narration betwixt the U.S. and Hungary. For years, an ambassador posting successful Budapest was chiefly considered a symbolic role, reserved for affluent governmental donors with nary overseas argumentation expertise. 

Hungary, the reasoning went, was a reliable European Union and NATO subordinate that required small other attraction successful Washington. But the erosion of antiauthoritarian norms — combined with Moscow’s power successful Budapest and Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine — has changed the calculus. 

“The stakes close present are huge,” the ambassador said. “The politicization and partisanization of the relationship,” helium added, “is not sustainable.”

A pragmatic idealist 

Pressman, dissimilar galore of his predecessors, is nary novice to U.S. overseas policy. 

As a young lawyer, helium teamed up with Clooney connected a run to get those successful powerfulness to wage attraction to atrocities successful Darfur — aboriginal earning the nickname “Cuz” from Clooney. He besides made stops arsenic an adjutant to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, arsenic a Homeland Security Department authoritative and a White House staffer during the Obama years. In 2014, helium landed successful New York arsenic the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for peculiar governmental affairs. 

Those experiences — and his resulting relationships crossed authorities — person fixed Pressman the backing to marque important changes to however the U.S. approaches Orbán’s government. 

Samantha Power, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author-turned-diplomat, was the 1 who brought the then-32-year-old Pressman to the White House earlier moving intimately unneurotic successful New York erstwhile she became U.N. ambassador. Pressman, she said, was her go-to idiosyncratic for pugnacious assignments. 

Once, she recalled, her unit needed to person China to articulation sanctions against North Korea aft a atomic test.

“David,” she told POLITICO, “is a idiosyncratic that I entrusted successful the day-to-day to enactment with the Chinese ambassador to extract arsenic robust a acceptable of sanctions arsenic possible.” 

“When we spot insane Kremlin stories being re-propagated successful the Hungarian media, we’re gonna telephone that out, due to the fact that we person to”, David Pressman said | Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty images

Pressman, Power recounted, was truthful well-prepared that it was arsenic if helium “got a PhD successful robust ore trafficking.” His prep enactment besides paid off. “No 1 had invested much successful beforehand of the atomic tests successful a narration with his Chinese counterpart that helium could past telephone upon erstwhile it mattered for the United States,” she added. 

Now, Hungary matters for the United States. In the past 12 years, Orbán’s ruling Fidesz enactment has taken power of overmuch of the media landscape, placed allies astatine the helm of autarkic authorities institutions, channeled authorities resources into governmental campaigning and nurtured ties to Moscow and Beijing. The improvement has strained the bedrock of the planetary antiauthoritarian order.

On a caller autumn day, the ambassador invited POLITICO to sojourn his location astatine 7:30 successful the morning, arsenic his sons were getting acceptable to permission for school. He past spent the time racing betwixt meetings with anti-corruption experts, a founding subordinate of Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party, Hungarian students and a chap ambassador. 

At the treatment with anti-corruption campaigners, Pressman placed a ample notebook connected the array and began scribbling arsenic helium tossed retired a flurry of questions: Who is involved? How does this work? How bash you cognize that? 

Later, Pressman popped into a graffiti-decorated pub and took his spot among a clump of precocious schoolhouse and assemblage students. Again, the questions came quickly: How bash your peers spot the U.S.? Is determination anyone successful the authorities you trust? What comes to caput connected Russia? 

Pressman is known arsenic an idealist. As the White House National Security Council’s manager for warfare crimes and atrocities, helium decorated his bureau — no bigger than 2 ample filing cabinets — with photos of indicted warfare criminals the U.S. was trying to apprehend, Power recalled.

But helium inactive professes a pragmatic approach. His goal, helium insists, is to physique relationships with the Hungarian authorities — adjacent arsenic helium needles it implicit anti-democratic behavior. The 2 sides tin enactment together, helium noted.

“When we spot insane Kremlin stories being re-propagated successful the Hungarian media, we’re gonna telephone that out, due to the fact that we person to,” helium said. 

But, Pressman added, “all of that is with the intent to propulsion america person unneurotic — not to propulsion america apart.”

A troubled relationship 

Even earlier the ambassador’s arrival, anti-American rhetoric had been connected the emergence successful Hungary. 

In the government-controlled press, the U.S. is some the boogeyman down the penetration of Ukraine and the puppet maestro of Hungary’s absorption parties. Fidesz-linked outlets adjacent dispersed paranoid conspiracy theories astir a U.S. diplomat who died successful a postulation accident.  

But successful caller weeks, the vitriol — and the idiosyncratic attacks connected Pressman — has reached a fever pitch. 

As Orbán’s allies person tightened their judicial strategy vice grip, the EU and others person made strengthening the assembly a precedence | John Thys/AFP via Getty images

One crisp escalation occurred aft Pressman posted a photograph of himself gathering with 2 judges from the National Judicial Council. 

The group’s bureaucratic sanction belies its heated symbolic and governmental value successful Hungary. 

The assembly is meant to assistance oversee Hungary’s judiciary. So arsenic Orbán’s allies person tightened their judicial strategy vice grip, the EU and others person made strengthening the assembly a priority.

Pressman’s decision, conscionable weeks into his job, to beryllium down with the council’s representatives sparked dozens of articles attacking him and breathless TV coverage.

“Unprecedented superior interference successful the judiciary,” blared a headline successful the government-linked Origo quality portal. “Today what comes to caput is that if we person specified friends, past we don’t request enemies,” the Orbán-adjacent Magyar Nemzet paper pronounced.

Even successful private, Hungarian officials stewed. “His gathering with 2 infamous judges,” said 1 elder Hungarian official, ”was a beauteous unfortunate beginning.” A spokesperson for the Hungarian authorities did not respond to questions astir Pressman.

Judge Csaba Vasvári — the council’s spokesperson and 1 of the figures who met with the ambassador — told POLITICO the nationalist pillorying is fueling a “strong chilling effect” wrong the judiciary. 

Instead of letting it pass, Pressman pushed backmost — successful his ain style. 

The U.S. embassy posted a big of photos of politicians and elder diplomats gathering with judges — including, cheekily, a smiling younger Orbán lasting beside erstwhile U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. 

“What is inconsistent with mean diplomatic signifier betwixt allies,” the embassy said successful a nationalist statement, “is the caller coordinated media onslaught connected the spokesperson and planetary liaison of the National Judicial Council successful what appears to beryllium an effort to instill fearfulness successful those who privation to prosecute with representatives of the United States.” 

A politicized alliance 

Orbán and his authorities person made nary concealed of their disdain for Democrats.

Democrats, they say, privation to enforce their wide ideology connected Hungary. They are the ones who ruined the narration with Hungary. They deficiency household values. They are not a Christian government. 

“Always large to perceive from our bully person @realDonaldTrump. Let’s marque US-HU relations large again!” Orbán tweeted precocious astatine the Twitter-banished ex-president | Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty images

Republicans are the nonstop opposite, successful the government’s narrative. Orbán himself has personally courted MAGA-ites astatine their ain ace vessel — CPAC. He hosted Tucker Carlson successful Budapest. He pines connected Twitter for Donald Trump’s return. 

“Always large to perceive from our bully person @realDonaldTrump. Let’s marque US-HU relations large again!” Orbán tweeted precocious astatine the Twitter-banished ex-president.

It’s these types of tossed-off comments that nary longer walk without a response. 

“With Hungary facing economical challenges and Vladimir Putin’s warfare connected its doorstep, the clip for a large US-HU relationship? Right now,” Pressman quipped back. 

It wasn’t the pair’s archetypal sarcastic Twitter repartee, either. When the Hungarian person archetypal joined the level successful October and rhetorically asked wherever Trump was, Pressman besides jumped in. 

“While you look astir for your friend, possibly different person to follow: the President of the United States,” helium changeable back, earlier offering a sly motion to his critics: “But arsenic the Hungarian media mightiness say: nary pressure.” 

Such cutting Twitter missives are not to everyone’s liking. Some adjacent importune they are having a boomerang effect, cheapening diplomacy and further deteriorating the U.S.-Hungarian relationship.

Two erstwhile Trump-era quality officials precocious blasted Pressman’s attack successful the Wall Street Journal, calling the playful video quiz a “cringe-worthy illustration of the State Department’s woke virtuousness signaling.” 

“When the U.S. has issues with overseas leaders, it should woody with them done big diplomacy,” they added. “Instead, our diplomatic efforts nether President Biden, a self-styled foreign-policy expert, could beryllium summed up arsenic ‘anyone I don’t similar is Putin.’” 

The Biden medication batted distant immoderate concerns.  

When POLITICO asked for remark connected the ambassador’s work, the State Department was speedy to some explicit the administration’s “full confidence” successful Pressman and to walk on a bipartisan endorsement from Cindy McCain, the widow of Republican stalwart and overseas argumentation maven John McCain. 

McCain, present successful Rome arsenic a U.S. diplomat, talked of knowing Pressman for “nearly 2 decades,” and said helium had “earned the heavy respect of nationalist information and overseas argumentation leaders successful some the Republican and Democratic parties.”

If determination is immoderate overarching goal, it is to telephone retired Russian propaganda, portion inactive paying attraction to however Hungary’s authorities treats minorities astatine location | Yuri Kadobnov/AFP via Getty images

For his part, Pressman insisted the embassy has nary partisan goals and simply wants a amended narration with the Hungarian authorities. 

“Our enactment is not astir wide policies. It’s not astir blimpish policies,” helium said. “But it’s fundamentally astir shared halfway values that are premised upon tiny ‘d’ democracy, and ensuring that we are capable to collaborate together.” 

If determination is immoderate overarching goal, it is to telephone retired Russian propaganda — portion inactive paying attraction to however Hungary’s authorities treats minorities astatine home.

“The United States volition ever prosecute connected behalf of communities that are susceptible oregon marginalized, and that are nether unit — and present successful Hungary, determination are a fewer of those,” the ambassador said, noting that groups person Washington’s enactment arsenic “they question to prosecute successful their ain antiauthoritarian process.”

Principled stances aside, the concern is undeniably strange: A diplomat from an allied state becoming nationalist force No. 1 — and the apical quality story. On a caller Sunday evening, the Fidesz-linked HírTV presumption spent astir fractional an hr connected Pressman.

Pressman insisted helium doesn’t instrumentality it personally. But “do we instrumentality it seriously? Absolutely,” helium said. 

“I’m the typical of the United States of America,” helium added. “It’s antithetic to find yourself,” helium observed with understatement, successful “an situation rather similar this.”