Donald Trump Jr.'s Meeting Putin's NATO Ally Raises Eyebrows

A meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Hungary's Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is raising questions and concerns.

Earlier this week, Trump Jr., the son of former President Donald Trump, traveled to Hungary, a member of the North American Treaty Organization (NATO), to meet with Orbán in the nation's capital city of Budapest.

"Had a great meeting today with @DonaldTrumpJr in Budapest. We discussed how we can make Hungarian-US relations great again, as they were under the presidency of @realDonaldTrump," Orbán wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, sharing a photo of himself and Trump Jr.

The meeting comes amid heightened tensions between Russia and the U.S. over Moscow's ongoing war in Ukraine. President Joe Biden's administration recently approved weapons to be sent to Ukraine for use against Russia in their war. Putin has criticized the U.S. and other Western nations throughout the war, and a flotilla of Russian Naval warships recently arrived near Cuba, off the coast of Florida.

Following the meeting, the Independent published a story questioning the meeting, and legal experts brought up concerns about a potential violation of the Logan Act.

"There is an interesting U.S. legal question about whether private citizens can attempt to influence U.S. foreign policy by negotiating with foreign countries," Kim Scheppele, a sociology and international affairs professor at Princeton University, told the Independent. "The Logan Act makes this illegal."

According to Brittanica, the Logan Act was enacted by Congress in 1799 and prohibits private citizens in the U.S. from engaging in unauthorized meetings and correspondence with foreign officials and governments.

"Any citizen of the United States wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both," the act says, according to Brittanica.

Former federal prosecutor Michael McAuliffe, told Newsweek on Friday that "The Logan Act is a largely untested prohibition against private U.S. citizens attempting to influence American foreign policy. While Donald Trump Jr.'s action in meeting with Viktor Orbán, Hungary's prime minister, and addressing political and economic issues at several conferences, may technically implicate the Logan Act, actual enforcement is highly unlikely."

"For opponents of Trump, his son's contacts with foreign strongmen simply is more fodder for the argument that Trump is planning, if elected, to emulate anti-democratic, authoritarian leaders in other regions of the world. For Trump supporters, the foreign leader contacts show the Trump family is a geopolitical force," McAuliffe said.

According to McAuliffe, the Trump family contact with Hungary leaders is similar to "other divisive action taken by the family."

"However, charges or other legal action against them for it just isn't going to occur," McAuliffe said.

Since the start of Russia's war with Ukraine, Orbán is among the few NATO leaders who have been sympathetic to Putin. The Hungarian leader has also consistently opposed aid to Ukraine from the European Union, and he's spoken out against Ukraine becoming a member of NATO.

Newsweek reached out to Donald Trump Jr. via a spokesperson for former President Trump via email for comment. Newsweek also reached out to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry via email for comment.

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