The warm words were in sharp contrast with Rubio’s message days earlier at the Munich Security Conference, when he urged European leaders to revive the transatlantic alliance.
Rubio stopped short of a formal election endorsement ahead of the April vote. Orbán is trailing his rival Péter Magyar in opinion polls.
Orbán said Hungarian democracy is “very strong” and that the government “will be created after the election in Hungary based on the intention of the Hungarians.”
“Sometimes I lose, sometimes I win,” Orbán said, adding that he is not afraid of defeat even though he hopes to win.
The Hungarian prime minister is also expected to travel to Washington this week for the inaugural meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace.