EU/FOREIGN DIGNITARIES/RACISM/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “He’s rolled back democratic checks on his power, mused about creating a European ethnostate and erected a razor-wire fence to keep migrants out, angering the rest of the European Union. So why was Hungary’s far-right prime minister Viktor Orbán meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Monday [5-13-19]? ‘I know he’s a tough man but he’s a respected man,’ Trump said during a friendly photo-op at the start of the talks on Monday. ‘Probably, like me, a little bit controversial, but that’s OK. That’s OK.’ Administration officials say the invitation to the White House for talks — the first for a Hungarian prime minister in years — is part of a concerted strategy to re-engage Central European nations as Russia and China seek to exert influence in the region. But the visit is raising questions about which leaders Trump is looking to cultivate — including a long list of global strongmen — at the expense of more traditional US allies. Orbán was largely iced out during the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, both concerned about the steps he took to consolidate power and block independent media.”
–Kevin Liptak, “Trump welcomes Hungary’s far-right nationalist prime minister after past presidents shunned him,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 13, 2019 10:01 pm