With election day looming in less than 70 days and Donald Trump in a tight race with Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency, some mainstream Republicans are growing alarmed by an overseas effort to manipulate the former president to align himself even more forcefully with Russia.
But it is not being directed by the Kremlin.
According to a report from Politico, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is backing efforts to influence a future Trump administration through the use of cut-outs and paid right-wing "influencers" which will in turn boost his profile with Russia.
As Politico's Heidi Przybyla and Nicholas Vinocur report, this has drawn the attention of moderate Republicans who fear Trump will be swayed by his friendship with the Hungarian strongman who is seeking a larger international stage for his brand of politics as well as lucrative trade deals with Russia.
According to the report, "The Hungarian message is of concern to mainstream Republican foreign-policy officials, past and present, because it seems to be a vehicle for an ongoing influence campaign over Trump and the many groups that are seeking his favor as he battles with Vice President Kamala Harris this fall to regain the American presidency," adding, " It has grown to include transatlantic conferences, U.S. journalist 'influencers' paid with Hungarian money and a formal agreement struck last year between a think tank funded by Orbán’s Fidesz Party, the Danube Institute, and The Heritage Foundation, another policy nerve center hoping to steer a second Trump administration."
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At the center of the influence campaign is the Conservative Partnership Institute, which the Politico report describes as "a nerve center for incubating policies for a second Trump administration."
The report notes, "CPI itself is a major arm of Trump’s MAGA movement raising significant sums of money. Its roster includes some of Trump’s most ardent loyalists, such as Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows.The Heritage Foundation, whose president, Kevin Roberts, calls Orbán’s leadership a “model for conservative governance,” has openly lobbied for influence in a future Trump administration through its Project 2025 and played a lead role in lobbying Congress to end congressional funding to Ukraine."
According to one source who has taken part in the meetings, "They [Orbán allies] say things people want to hear about issues they care about. It’s ‘woke this and woke that,’ and then they pressure them with what they really want."
You can read more here.