‘Not Our Job': Principals Decry a Proposal to Track Student Immigration Status

by Ileana Najarro, Education Week, April 18, 2026 - Educators at Eastside Elementary in Chattanooga, Tenn., have spent years building trust with immigrant students and their families.

That trust was tested last year when fears of immigration enforcement led some families to leave the community, and the school saw its enrollment decline, according to Greg Wilkey, the school’s principal.

Now, that trust could be further tested, if not derailed, Wilkey said, if Tennessee lawmakers succeed in passing legislation this year that would require schools to defy federal law and collect students’ immigration status information.

“If we start tracking and recording and asking these questions, I just don’t think the parents are going to be as open or always willing to trust us on other things,” he said.

Tennessee is one of three states where policymakers are currently proposing action to limit undocumented students’ access to a free, public education by challenging tenets of the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe, which granted these students that right. Four other state efforts launched since President Donald Trump’s re-election win failed, according to an EdWeek analysis. Influential entities such as the Heritage Foundation, and Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, have supported such legislative challenges to undocumented students’ rights. ....

... Earlier versions of the legislation would have allowed public schools to charge tuition or even deny enrollment to undocumented students—actions that conflict with federal law under Plyler.

The current version of legislation up for debate is narrower. It would require schools to collect immigration status information of all students enrolled in or seeking to enroll in public schools in the 2026-27 school year. That data would then be reported to the state in the aggregate. The current bill does not appear to specify what documents can be used to determine immigration status.

Schools do not already collect such information from families, as doing so could discourage undocumented families from enrolling in school, potentially undermining their children’s right to access a free, public education, experts say. That information is also irrelevant, they add, as under federal law, enrollment does not hinge on immigration status.

It would also be a logistical nightmare for schools, educators say.

“I have almost 800 students, so going through asking this question about citizenship, and then the review of all that documentation as students register, I can’t even imagine how many hours that would take, and we’re not set up for that right now. We don’t have the people to do it,” said Jill Levine, vice president of the Hamilton County Schools Principals Association and principal of Chattanooga High Center for Creative Arts.

There are also concerns about how parents would be able to fulfill the proposed documentation requirements, whether citizens or not. Wilkey, for instance, said he doesn’t have his own birth certificate on hand as a U.S. citizen.

Immigration advocates pushing back against Tennessee’s proposed legislation have also cautioned that any school staff in charge of reviewing immigration documents would have to be trained to work as though they were immigration judges to understand the nuances of various visa and refugee programs so they could determine whether students have legal status.

“We are not immigration officers. That’s not our job,” Wilkey said. “We are educators. We are here to teach children academic and social skills.” (read it all)

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April Breakfast Club with Rep. John Rose

U.S. Congressman John Rose will be the guest speaker of Nashville Conservatives next Saturday, April 25th at 8:30am at Golden Corral (315 Old Lebanon Dirt Rd, Hermitage). Rep. Rose is running for Governor of Tennessee. This is a chance to hear directly from someone who could be leading our state next year.

Free and open to everyone. Bring a friend or two! RSVP FOR BREAKFAST

About John Rose

U.S. Representative John Rose is serving his fourth term in Congress – representing Tennessee's Sixth Congressional District on the House Agriculture Committee and House Financial Services Committee. A lifelong Tennessean, he was raised in Cookeville and lives there with his wife Chelsea and sons Guy and Sam. He grew up working with his father on their more than 230-year-old family farm in the Temperance Hall and Lancaster communities of DeKalb and Smith Counties – a proud legacy that he continues today.

As a farmer, attorney and small business owner, Representative Rose’s life experiences as a political outsider have led him to become one of the most conservative members of Congress. That conservative perspective is front and center as he works to reduce the National debt and rein in government spending in an effort to leave America better for the next generation. He also believes in reducing burdensome federal regulations on individuals, families, businesses, and community banks, which is a regular part of his work on the prestigious House Financial Services Committee.

While elected office is a new chapter in his life, Representative Rose got his start in business as a successful young entrepreneur and remains the owner and president of Boson Software, LLC, an I.T. training enterprise. Prior to serving in Congress, he served as Commissioner of Agriculture for the State of Tennessee. With a lifelong passion for farming and rural Tennessee, he recently finished a twelve-year stint as a volunteer for the Tennessee State Fair Association where he served as Chairman. The group is credited with having saved the more than 100-year-old State Fair, which was abandoned by Nashville’s Metro Fair Board in 2010. Today, the State Fair is proudly held in the Sixth Congressional District in Lebanon on the thriving Wilson County-State Fairgrounds.

 John graduated from Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville with a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness economics. He went on to complete his Master of Science in agricultural economics at Purdue University and his Juris Doctorate at Vanderbilt University. 

The Rose Family are active members in the Cookeville community and attend Jefferson Avenue Church of Christ. (link)

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With Ten GOP Defections, US House passes Bill Extending Legal Status for 350,000 Haitians

by Shauneen Miranda, Tennessee Outlook, April 17, 2026 - The U.S. House on Thursday passed a measure that would extend Temporary Protected Status for Haiti for three years, in a rare rebuke by the GOP-led Congress to President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

Ten Republicans defected, including Reps. Maria Salazar, Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez of Florida, Rich McCormick of Georgia, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Mike Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis of New York, Mike Turner and Mike Carey of Ohio and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. 

Rep. Kevin Kiley, a California independent who caucuses with the GOP, also voted for the bill. 

The bill, which succeeded 224-204, came as Trump’s administration has sought to revoke legal protections for immigrants with Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, including Haitian nationals, amid his crackdown on immigrants without legal status.  

The bill now heads to the GOP-led Senate, and should that chamber pass the measure, would almost certainly be vetoed by Trump. 

The Democratic-led effort came to the floor under a discharge petition, which allows a bill to skirt Republican leadership and be brought to the House floor once it gains the signatures of a majority of House members.

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley — a Massachusetts Democrat and co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus — brought forth the petition in January and it reached the 218-signature threshold in late March.

Pressley’s petition forced a floor vote on a bill from New York Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen. The version voted on by the House would require the secretary of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for TPS until April 2029. 

Lawler, a New York Republican, was an original co-sponsor of Gillen’s measure. Lawler, Salazar, Fitzpatrick and Bacon had also signed on to Pressley’s discharge petition.

The bill’s passage in the House came just days before the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over Trump’s efforts to revoke TPS for 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. 

A federal judge in February blocked the termination of TPS for Haiti from going into effect — shortly before the designation was slated to end. 

TPS is provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security secretary to nationals who cannot safely return home. The deportation protection lets individuals legally work in the United States, with renewal cycles that range from six to 18 months.  

‘A death sentence’

“Let us be clear about what deportation would mean — we would be sending parents back into danger, ripping our seniors away from their caregivers, faith leaders back into instability, and essential workers back into insecurity,” Pressley said at a Wednesday press conference she and Gillen held with colleagues and advocates regarding the effort. 

“To deport anyone to a country that is grappling with layered political, humanitarian and economic crises is unconscionable, it is dangerous and it is preventable,” Pressley added. 

“To deport anyone to Haiti right now is unlawful, and it would be a death sentence.” 

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Tennessee General Assembly Passes $58B Budget, Snatching Diapers Out of the Mouths of Babes.

by Kim Jarrett, The Center Square, April 17, 2026-   Tennessee's $58 billion budget for fiscal year 2027 includes an increase in starting teacher pay to $50,000 and $112 million for 35,000 school choice scholarships.

The budget includes $30 billion in state general funds and dedicated state appropriations and $19 billion of federal funding, said Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, who made the presentation in the Senate. The rest of the budget is from fees, tuitions and bonds.

The budget is 9% below the fiscal year 2026 budget, said Rep. Gary Hicks, chairman of the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee, who presented it to the House.

"This is primarily due to a decline in federal funds, specifically COVID-related dollars, but also slowing growth and state tax revenue from what it was in recent years," Hicks said. "The budget recognizes an estimated growth of about 2.35% in state revenue, which equates to about $450 million in recurring revenue and funding, which is programmed and spent."

The largest allocations include $400 million for new and existing transportation projects and $339 million in public education funding, including the increase in starting teacher pay.

An amendment approved by lawmakers includes the sunset of the state's TennCare Diaper Benefit on Jun 30, 2027, which provided 100 free diapers a month to TennCare and CoverKids members ages 2 and under. Second-term Republican Gov. Bill Lee introduced the program with bipartisan support in 2023, and it began in August 2024.

The ending of the diaper programs is part of $137 million from the general fund for what is known as the hospital buyback program, which funds uncompensated care.

Money for the hospital buyback program was taken from the TennCare Shared Savings program last year. Lawmakers used $205 million from the Shared Savings fund for healthcare initiatives, including Rural Health Transformation Resiliency Grants, and $230 million to TennCare to cover medical inflation costs.

Tennessee is the only state that has a shared savings program.

According to an explanation on the state's website, "Tennessee administers its Medicaid program (TennCare) under a specified spending cap (referred to as a budget neutrality cap), which considers historical state spending, inflation and future enrollment changes. If the state can operate successfully at a lower cost than the budget neutrality cap and maintain or improve quality, the state then shares in the savings that traditionally have gone to the federal government to enhance the TennCare program and improve the health of TennCare members and Tennessee communities."

Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said the General Assembly remains committed to health care.

"This budget makes significant investments in healthcare and hospitals, ensuring providers have the resources to serve patients and strengthen care across our state," Watson said. "We remain committed to improving healthcare in Tennessee and finding innovative ways to support it."

House and Senate Democrats introduced an amendment to remove $887,000 in funding for a new subterranean transportation infrastructure coordination authority that will oversee an underground tunnel from the Nashville airport to downtown. The amendment failed.

Democrats voted against the bill, saying it did not do enough to address affordability issues affecting Tennesseans.

"I mean we are literally taking diapers away from babies by ending the diaper program we just approved like two years ago," said Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville. "We were the first in the nation to proudly give free diapers to TennCare mothers and now we are about to take them and snatch them out of the mouths of babes." [Rod inserts a comment: What? I think we should snatch diapers out of the mouths of babes.]

Republicans acknowledged that the budget is conservative. The budget includes $20 million for the state's rainy day fund.

"By balancing responsible stewardship with targeted investments, we are continuing to build a strong foundation for economic growth and opportunity in every corner of our state," Johnson said.

The budget bill goes to Lee for his approval.

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Attorney General Skrmetti and Coalition of States Win Trial Against Live Nation and Ticketmaster

Press release, Office of Attorney General Johnathan Skrmetti, April 17 2026 - Attorney General Skrmetti and a coalition of 33 other attorneys general today won their lawsuit against Live Nation after a jury found that Live Nation and Ticketmaster violated federal and state antitrust laws by eliminating competition and driving up costs for fans, artists, and venues across the country. After a five-week trial, the jury found that the coalition proved that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have unlawfully maintained and abused their monopoly power that prevents other ticketing services, venue owners, and concert promoters from successfully competing. As a result, fans are charged higher prices for tickets. 

“Live Nation and Ticketmaster have ripped off consumers for decades. Thanks to a relentless bipartisan coalition of states, they’re finally being held accountable,” said Attorney General Skrmetti. “A jury determined that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are an illegal monopoly. Next up, the judge will decide the appropriate remedies, and a breakup is absolutely on the table. It’s been over 40 years since an antitrust case resulted in breaking up a company, and I think we’re due.”

In May 2024, Attorney General Skrmetti, a coalition of 40 other states, and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Live Nation, alleging that its control over almost every aspect of the live event business—from venue ownership to event promotion to ticketing services through Ticketmaster—allowed it to raise costs for both fans and artists and to suppress competition. During the trial that began on March 2, 2026, DOJ reached a settlement with Live Nation, which the coalition of 33 states rejected, choosing to continue litigation. 

The jury today found Live Nation and Ticketmaster liable for violating federal and state laws by engaging in anticompetitive conduct. The jury found that Ticketmaster unlawfully maintains a monopoly in the market for ticketing services at major concert venues. The jury also found that Live Nation has a monopoly in the market for large amphitheaters used by artists and that Live Nation unlawfully requires artists who use the amphitheaters it controls to also use its event promotion services. In addition, the jury determined that fans have been overcharged for concert tickets at major concert venues across the country.

Having successfully proven their case on liability to the jury, Attorney General Skrmetti and the coalition will argue for remedies and financial penalties at a separate bench trial.

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Andy Ogles is Just Another Man who is a Legend in His Own Mind.

by Kevin Bart, Facebook, April 17, 2026 - There is a particular kind of man the South has always
produced, and always recognized, usually a generation too late. He arrives already decorated. His biography arrives before he does. He has fought battles, holds titles, led movements, built things, saved people. You find yourself nodding along, impressed, right up until the moment someone pulls the thread.

Andy Ogles has been pulling threads out of his own biography since 2023, and tucking them back in, and hoping you weren't watching.

He told us he was an economist. He was not. He told us he had graduate degrees from Vanderbilt and Dartmouth. He had taken online certificate courses. He told us he had been a trained law enforcement officer. He had not. He told us he had loaned his campaign $320,000. The money did not exist. The FBI eventually came for his phone. The House Ethics Committee came after that. The federal investigation, as of this writing, remains open.

This is the man now presenting you with his record of achievement.

Some of it holds up. He is, genuinely, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, a real appointment in the 119th Congress. He did welcome a $74 million VA clinic to Davidson County — though the VA awarded it, and he championed it. He did sit in a room in Washington last March with sanctioned members of the Russian State Duma, organized by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. He was there. That much is confirmed.

The rest requires what you might call interpretive generosity.

He claims to have "triggered the first university review of illicit DEI." He sent a letter to the Education Secretary about Belmont University in July 2025. Senator Marsha Blackburn had sent a similar letter about Vanderbilt before him. Belmont, a private Christian school that receives no federal funding, denied the allegations, and their programs remain intact. A letter demanding an investigation is not an investigation. A press release about a letter is not an investigation. In the Ogles ledger, these distinctions rarely appear.

The PILLAR Act, which he describes as "passed," passed the House. The bill targeting Chinese hackers, which he says he "passed," passed the House. The Senate is another country. Neither has become law. But in the Ogles ledger, "introduced," "passed the House," and "signed into law" move fluidly between columns, depending on audience.

His freshman legislative record, which he has described as more prolific than any member "in history," was characterized by his own press release, more carefully, as the most productive in "several decades." His office also noted that of his hundred legislative proposals in his first term, three were signed into law, all as amendments to larger bills. The gap between "in history" and "three amendments" is the same gap that has always lived between Andy Ogles and his résumé.

The ASSIMILATION Act, which he calls the most significant immigration overhaul since the 1960s, has not been introduced as formal legislation. Full text has not been released. It has generated considerable media coverage, which appears to be the point.

And then there is the Kremlin meeting, which he describes as the "first bipartisan congressional meeting" with Russian leadership. The bipartisan piece is technically accurate — one Democrat joined four Republicans in the room. The delegation, however, was the Russian State Duma, not the Kremlin. Analysts at the Center for European Policy Analysis noted that Duma members hold minimal actual authority. Bipartisan senators of both parties raised counterintelligence concerns in a letter to the Secretary of State. Ogles filed it as a diplomatic achievement.

There is a post office bill, too. He wants to rename the Columbia post office after Medal of Honor recipient John Harlan Willis, a Columbia native who threw back enemy grenades at Iwo Jima until the ninth one took his life. Willis was the real thing. The bill has not yet passed. It is, as Ogles puts it, "about to."

In the long tradition of Middle Tennessee men who have talked their way into rooms they had not quite earned, Andy Ogles is a fluent speaker. The biography precedes the record. The press release precedes the legislation. The claim precedes the accomplishment, sometimes by years, sometimes indefinitely.

John Harlan Willis threw back eight grenades before the ninth one killed him. He did not issue a press release.

The Columbia post office is still waiting.

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Federal Campaign Financial Reports Show Andy Ogles Lagging in Fundraising.

U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles

by J. Holly McCall, Tennessee Lookout, April 16, 2026- Money isn't everything, but in politics, it sure helps. 

Federal campaign finance disclosures were due on Wednesday, and while we are still poring through them, a couple of items stood out. 

Congressional District 5 U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican, in the first quarter of 2026 raised $138,500. To be frank, that's not diddly squat for an incumbent. 

His Republican primary opponent, former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, equaled him, raising $135,000, and his chief Democratic rivals both ran laps around him. Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder reported raising $613,800 for the same period and Metro Nashville Councilmember Mike Cortese reported $273,000.

With seven months before the general election, many things can happen, including super PACs or independent expenditure groups parachuting loads of money into the district on Ogles' behalf: incumbents can never be counted out. 

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Trump's Sacrilegious Meme is the Red Line for Some of the Faithful

by Rod Williams, April 1688, 2026-  Is there any "red line" that if Trump crosses, his supporters will not follow? 

I should never have expected that any one thing would cause his cult-like followers to abandon him. If they could still vote for him following the January 2021 coup attempt, then it would take a lot for them to abandon him. I did think, however, that at some point, Trump would do things that his followers could just not stomach. 

I thought that Republicans would revolt over tariffs. After all, Republicans had been the party most in favor of free trade for decades. When Trump advocated and imposed tariffs, the faithful followed.

I thought it might be the mocking of a disabled reporter, or the way he refers to women, or calling people he disagrees with stupid, or other behavior that demeans and dehumanizes people. Nope, Trumpinistas cheered him on.

I thought when his paramilitary thugs murdered two American protestors in broad daylight on the streets of an American city, that his followers would say, "I didn't sign up for this." They didn't. That is what they signed up for.

I thought failing to release the Epstein files and the Epstein cover-up would do it. That was one thing that motivated a part of his base. That is the reason many voted for Trump. That did it for Marjorie Taylor Green, but most just accepted Trump's handling of the Epstein affair and the cover-up. 

I thought siding with Putin may do it. No. They don't care.

I thought the war against Iran may do it. Large segments of his supporters supported him because they thought he would avoid war. A few did abandon Trump over the war, but not many. When he threatened war crimes against Iran in a profanity-laden Truth Social post on Easter Sunday and followed that up the next day with a post that said, "A whole civilization will die tonight," that was too much for the likes of Alex Jones, Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and a few others. Nevertheless, his popularity did not take a nosedive. 

One of the largest voting blocs for Trump has been conservative Christians, and especially evangelical Christians. I have never understood that. Trump is not a religious person or a moral person. He appears ignorant of the Bible, and he never mentions his faith or talks of seeking divine guidance. 

Over the years, numerous women have made allegations of sexual assault against Trump and he has boasted about grabbing women by the pussy. There are detailed reports of extra-marital affairs, including those with adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, which involved payments of money to suppress stories. He has a pattern of entering a relationship with a woman who later becomes his wife while he is still married. His supporters will say God uses imperfect men. That don't care that he is immoral. Some will say he has changed, although there is no evidence of that. 

Some recent events, however, have caused some of his Christian followers to become disgusted with Trump. The one thing that got a lot of attention was the meme Trump posted to Truth Social that depicted himself as Jesus either healing a man or raising him from the dead. 

I have a close friend who has a sibling who is a Trump supporter and an evangelical Christian. She said her sibling was disgusted and called the post sacrilegious. I have heard of other reports like that. This is the one thing that has caused a lot of Christians to turn on Trump, but this didn't happen in isolation.  This is part of a pattern of contempt for the Christian faithful. Dropping the F-bomb threat to commit massive war crimes on Easter Sunday offended some of the religious faithful. And then during a White House Easter lunch on April 1, Pastor Paula White, a longtime spiritual advisor to Donald Trump, drew a series of controversial parallels between the President's personal and legal challenges and the suffering of Jesus Christ. Some found that troubling. And then there was the picking of a fight with the Pope. And now, this meme depicting Trump as Jesus.

Many Trump followers will never abandon Trump. In George Orwell's 1984, Oceania constantly shifts its war alliances between Eurasia and Eastasia, changing allies and enemies without admission of change. Trump has that ability to make people support things they would never have previously supported and yet square the circle and justify it. Many Trump supporters are like Jim Jones followers and willingly drink the Kool-Aid. Some, however, do wake up and leave the cult. 

President Donald Trump's approval rating has fallen to record lows, with some polls showing approval at 33%–35% and disapproval nearing 60%. This is welcome news. When people leave the cult, they should be welcomed to the pro-democracy side and the side of human decency. The red line is different for different people. Whether it is going to war without building a case for it, or failing to release the Epstein files, or over a sacrilegious meme, those who leave should be welcome. 

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Viktor Orbán’s Loss was a Defeat for MAGA

By Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic, April 13, 2026 - Viktor Orbán’s loss in yesterday’s election is just as much a defeat for Donald Trump and his vice president, J. D. Vance, as it is for the now-toppled Hungarian strongman. Seldom have American leaders intervened so overtly in a foreign election, and seldom has their preferred candidate fared so badly. ...

Red "Make America Great Again" caps and other pro-Trump symbols saturated Orbán’s campaign rallies. ... Trump has generally forfeited the United States’ global leadership, except for the variety that operates at the barrel of a gun. But he still fancies himself the boss of an international far-right bloc, and he enjoyed the magnified view of his own power in the mirror that Orbán held up to him. Strategically and stylistically, the two leaders are similar. The prime minister was the first EU head of government to endorse Trump in 2016, and the Republican nominee’s upset victory went on to galvanize populist parties across the world.

Over the next decade, no foreign leader worked harder than Orbán to translate reactionary politics into a cross-border governing program. He turned Hungary into a testing ground for practices that Trump is now implementing in America, including the expansion of executive power and the assault on universities and other elements of civil society. Orbán has nurtured a network of think tanks and other government-backed institutions that both court existing MAGA luminaries and cultivate new ones. He put an ally of Vance, and a votary of so-called post-liberalism, on his payroll in Budapest. In Washington, meanwhile, the second Trump administration brought in young aides with experience at pro-government institutes in Budapest.

... Consider the time and effort that Trump and Vance invested in the election. Trump broadcast multiple endorsements on social media and recorded a video that was played at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Budapest. Before traveling to Islamabad for Saturday’s failed peace talks with Iranian leaders, Vance spent two days in the Hungarian capital campaigning alongside the prime minister, at the expense of U.S. taxpayers. One wondered, as Trump warned of the end of Iranian civilization, whether his vice president might not have better things to do.

Trump treated Orbán’s reelection bid like a domestic political contest, with all the attendant implications for his political capital. “We love Viktor,” the president said last fall, standing before his European counterparts at a Middle East peace summit. “You are fantastic, all right? I know a lot of people don’t agree with me, but I’m the only one that matters.” As the election neared, his endorsements of Orbán were indistinguishable from his interventions in competitive U.S. congressional races, complete with his emphatic capitalization. Orbán, he wrote, would protect “LAW AND ORDER!” Trump’s eldest son removed any remaining doubt about the stakes when he weighed in over the weekend, addressing Hungarian voters on X. “We hope you will vote for my father’s friend and ally,” Donald Trump Jr. wrote. “One leader in Europe has a direct line to the White House, I hope you will support Viktor Orban!”

Vance made the contest even more personal by flying to Budapest to stump for the prime minister. Standing at his side, Vance called the Hungarian leader by his first name and voiced confidence in his victory. At a joint press conference, the vice president predicted, “Viktor Orbán’s gonna win,” and then turned to him and asked, “Viktor, is that right?” Western diplomats in Budapest suggested to me that Vance’s visit may have backfired. They observed that Trump’s war in Iran is unpopular in Europe and that the welcoming of any foreign leader was at odds with Orbán’s argument that he stood for Hungarian sovereignty. ... 

Trump didn’t just send individual emissaries to Budapest; he also involved the apparatus of the U.S. State Department in the election. Before Vance’s appearance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to the Hungarian capital in February. ...  “Your success is our success,” Rubio told Orbán.

Trump dangled further U.S. assistance at the eleventh hour. Two days before the election, he took to Truth Social to suggest that Orbán’s reelection would enable the furthering of economic ties between the two countries. “My Administration stands ready to use the full Economic Might of the United States to strengthen Hungary’s Economy, as we have done for our Great Allies in the past, if Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian People ever need it,” he wrote. ... 

...  One bright spot, which he highlighted, was that “the U.S. made clear they are supporting us.” How special to have the backing of “the strongest country on Earth.”

.... Hungary is a small country that ejected its prime minister in large part because of domestic economic conditions. The country’s broader significance lies in the illiberal model it has exported abroad. That model has champions at the height of the U.S. government who appear inclined to intervene, audaciously, in foreign campaigns. Next year, elections will take place in numerous European countries whose populations are each larger than Hungary’s, including France, Italy, Poland, and Spain. One measure of their meaning will be whether MAGA caps appear at the victory parties. (read it all)

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