Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stood in front of the United States' audience that attracted American conservative activists and articulated his vision for American politics.

He announced at a special meeting of the Conservative Political Action Committee in Budapest in May 2022 that Western media is "the source of the problem." Conservatives take back the key to the United States? “Have your own media.”

Speaking from experience, Orbán has systematically reshaped the political landscape of Hungary since 2010, mainly through reproduction on independent media and replacing it with faithful media institutions. Although his American admirers, including conservative journalists, podcasters and political leaders, his American admirers enthusiastically embraced his advice, his advice was related to democratic values.

Now, three years later, President Donald Trump, a special politician, seems to have put Orbán's words in his heart, mimicking Orbán's early actions and taking quick action to decide on the terms of his own reporting.

New Terms for News

For his first 100 days, Trump advocated new control over the press, starting with the people who covered him up every day.

In February 2025, his administration banned the Oval Office from using the Gulf of Mexico instead of adopting the president's newly named "American Gulf."

Soon after, Trump's team deprived the White House Press Association of Presses to decide which media outlets are in the presidential news library, and journalists have been in roles for more than a century.

Then a detailed executive order was made in mid-March to remove government-funded news organizations, including Voice of America, International Broadcasting Services. On the same day, Trump went to the Justice Department to make a televised speech, announcing that some negative news reports were not only unfair, but also "completely illegal." The president accused the select media of operations in "full coordination" to undermine him.

"These networks and these newspapers are really no different from high-paying political surgeons, they have to stop, they have to be illegal," Trump told the Justice Department staff.

Now, Trump has escalated these demands, calling on the FCC to punish CBS and revoke its license in the "60 Minutes" section he dislikes. He declared the network's coverage “illegal and illegal”.

From absent from journalists to seeking legal retribution, Trump's actions are not reflecting a series of isolated moves, but coordinated efforts in media overhauls, consistent with his broader attempts to reorganize state institutions.

As a scholar studying propaganda models and narrative control, I think the possible source of this media overhaul script is Orbán.

Orbán Model

I keep an eye on how Orbán merged control over the Hungarian media as prime minister, allowing him to show the fantasy of media consensus and broad support. His campaign began immediately after returning to power in 2010.

Supported by a new parliamentary majority, Albarn enacted a comprehensive media bill in 2011 that grants the state extensive oversight. This means that a newly formed media committee consists entirely of his ruling party, granted a beautiful news outlet that they consider “unbalanced or immoral” coverage.

It's not just an effort to reiterate it as a criticism. This is the beginning of a broader strategy to remake the Hungarian media.

The law promptly condemned, most notably from journalists, but also from the EU. When Orbán later spoke to the European Parliament, members shut their mouths and held signs of "censorship" in protest.

To his critics, Albann claimed that Hungary’s “media regulation system” had “collapsed” and that it was his government’s responsibility to rebuild it. But for the press, it's not reconstruction.

As one Hungarian journalist said, “Alban sees the media as a battlefield; is occupied by the enemy and is filled with potentially expanded territory.”

Oligarchs take over the media

The real acquisition comes from a coordinated media acquisition wave.

Like fragments on the board, Orbán friendly oligarchs criticized major newspapers, TV channels and radio stations. His wealthy allies are systematic: they fired the editorial team, replaced the key voice with faithful voices, and often triggered mass resignations from journalists who were reluctant to party to the toe.

Many once independent media were soon resurrected as Pro-Orbán media.

By 2018, the integration has been completed.

To showcase political choreography, nearly 500 private media donated to a central holding company: Kesma, the China-Europe Media and Media Foundation. Run by allies of Orbán, Kesma now dominates the media landscape in Hungary, provides a unified Pro-Orbán content and promotes what he calls “liberal” agenda.

Orbán's campaign offers a 21st century model of media control - a type that is rooted in public censorship but rather from narrative saturation. Although some independent media still exists, the vast chorus of the Pro-Orbán media now drowns out their dissent.

This is an admiration aroused from right-wing figures around the world.

American media figures such as Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson have traveled to Budapest to meet Orbán and learn his script, while the Hungarian leader has become a star on the Conservative Party tour, speaking at the party of the Conservative Political Action Committee and establishing connections with the magazine movement and Trump.

After Orbán joined his campaign last summer, he boasted about his “deep engagement” to help shape Trump’s upcoming agenda.

Import script

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlcife7jg7y[/embed]

Looking back at the president’s first 100 days, it’s clear that Alban’s tactics are now surfaced in Trump’s second term.

Alba passed a media law to punish imbalance reports where Trump now calls certain coverage illegal, and his administration has begun investigating at least one media. He also began to get rid of the agenda breach as his press office continued to refuse access to wire services such as Reuters and Bloomberg.

Orbán's allies acquired and repurposed unfavorable media, and Trump found his own powerful media partners, such as Elon Musk. Musk's 2022 acquisition of Twitter (now X) reflects the strategy of Orbán's billionaire allies, allowing tech tycoons to effectively turn the platform into a megaphone for Trump's agenda.

Finally, just as Orbán built a massive loyal media network, Trump allies are expanding the parallel magazine media universe designed to expand and block his message.

The device is now a White House fixture. As independent channels like AP and Reuters are eliminated, new pro-Trump voices are introduced. Among them: Steve Bannon's Warroom, the Voice of Real America and Lindell TV, founded by Mypillow Ceo CEO and Trump advocate Mike Mike Lindell. These networks not only cover governments—they celebrate it.

Brian Glenn, a journalist with a real American voice, was recently awarded the first question at an Oval Office press conference. He used it to praise Trump’s achievements and poll numbers: “All the agendas you run, you’re achieving that.

In another briefing, a Lindell Television correspondent asked press secretary Karoline Leavitt if he could share Trump’s fitness program, noting that he looked healthier than ever before, adding: “I’m sure everyone in this room can agree. ”

The agreement is exactly the focus. By reshaping the media in his image, Trump is building a news pool that will advocate for his message. This is Orbán's fantasy of consensus, and it's just the opening ceremony.