Hungary’s far-right PM calls for Trump’s return: ‘Come back, Mr President’

He noted that Washington and Brussels were still in the grip of liberalism, which he described as a "virus that will atomize and disintegrate our nations".

He said: "I'm sure if President Trump would be the president, there would be no war in Ukraine and Europe. Come back, Mr President. Make America great again and bring us peace."

The prime minister, who last year won his fourth consecutive term in office, portrayed Hungary's self-described "illiberal Christian democracy" - widely criticised for its constraints on media and academic freedom, and for its anti-LGBTQ+ legislation - as a model for the world.

"I wish I was there in Budapest. If I ever get fired, have some time, and can leave, I'll be there with you," Carlson promised.

The CPAC chair, Matt Schlapp, said Hungary was a model for dealing with journalists. He said that he told the event's Hungarian organisers his team "would determine who a journalist is", adding that was "quite revolutionary for the Americans, because in America a journalist tells them who is a journalist and we treat them like a journalist".

Schlapp said that in Hungary journalists had to follow certain rules about writing the truth and presenting "both sides" of a story.