1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

I am your constituent — a voter, a taxpayer, and an American who is watching this moment very carefully. On April 10, 2026 — two days before Hungary’s parliamentary election — President Trump posted publicly that his administration stands ready to deploy the full “Economic Might of the United States” to benefit Hungary, explicitly tying that promise to “Orbán’s continued Leadership.” This is not foreign policy. This is the President of the United States using American economic leverage as a campaign tool for a foreign autocrat. I need you to answer for it. Who are we to tell Hungarians who to vote for? The United States has condemned foreign election interference for decades. We have sanctioned nations over it, launched investigations over it, and built entire agencies to defend against it. The principle is simple: sovereign people have the right to choose their own leaders free from outside pressure. That principle does not have an asterisk reading “unless the President personally likes the candidate.” If it is wrong when Russia does it — and it is — it is wrong when we do it. The man we are backing is not a democratic ally. Over 16 years in power, Orbán has transformed Hungary from a liberal democracy into an electoral autocracy — systematically capturing state institutions, reshaping the electoral system to his advantage, and eroding democratic checks and balances. The media landscape has been brought under state control, fundamental rights have been restricted, and democracy and the rule of law are being systematically dismantled. Scholars have described Orbán’s regime not as one seeking democratic legitimacy, but as one pursuing a dictatorial turn — a constitutional dictatorship where formal legality coexists with substantive authoritarian domination. And backing Orbán means backing Putin’s agenda. Critics widely accuse Orbán of unofficially representing Russian interests inside the European Union — repeatedly blocking EU aid to Ukraine, opposing Ukraine’s EU accession, and refusing to phase out Russian oil and gas. When the President pledges American economic might to keep this man in power, he is doing a favor for Moscow as much as Budapest. Meanwhile, you voted to cut food and healthcare from your own constituents. The budget passed by this Congress makes approximately $600 billion in cuts to Medicaid, with an estimated 10.9 million Americans losing coverage over the next ten years, alongside $230 billion in cuts to SNAP food assistance. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the law’s Medicaid policies will cause 7.5 million people to become uninsured by 2034, and roughly 2.4 million people — including families with children — will lose access to monthly food assistance. You told your constituents there was no money. You told seniors, disabled Americans, and working families that the nation could not afford to keep them fed and healthy. And yet this President finds the “full Economic Might of the United States” for a Hungarian strongman running for a fifth term. That is not a policy difference. That is a moral failure — and your silence makes you complicit in it. This President is not serving America. He is serving himself and foreign dictators. Vice President Vance traveled to Budapest to attend a pro-Orbán campaign rally, declaring “I admire what you are fighting for,” while Secretary of State Rubio had already visited Hungary earlier this year to declare that “Hungary’s success is our success.” Analysts note that Orbán’s model — built on hardline nationalism and the systematic erosion of democratic checks — has been explicitly touted as a blueprint for reshaping Western democracy by conservatives in the United States and abroad. This is the pattern of a president who has abandoned his oath. He is using the power and resources of the United States government not to serve the American people, but to entrench authoritarian allies abroad who model the style of governance he wishes to impose here. His commitment to hardline, anti-democratic forces — at our expense — is further proof that Donald Trump must be removed from office. He is not governing America. He is pursuing his own whims and the interests of foreign strongmen while Americans go without insulin, groceries, and healthcare. I am asking you to act — specifically and publicly: Demand a congressional investigation into whether this pledge constitutes unauthorized foreign aid or election interference. Introduce or co-sponsor legislation requiring congressional approval before any presidential economic commitment to a foreign government is tied to that government’s electoral outcome. And issue a public statement within 10 days making clear where you stand. I will be sharing your response — or your silence — with every voter I know. Respectfully