Why the White House's glowing invitation to Hungary's Viktor Orban is drawing scrutiny

The White House on Tuesday confirmed that Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban would be visiting next week. Oddly, it didn't mention Orban's blatantly authoritarian tendencies.

In its Tuesday statement, the White House said Trump and Orban would "discuss ways to deepen cooperation on ... trade, energy, and cybersecurity" and also "celebrate Hungary's 20th anniversary as a NATO member." Yet the fact that Orban has said Europe is "under invasion" by migrants, or that he is ruling a self-described "alternative to liberal democracy," do not seem to be on the table. Neoconservative commentator Bill Kristol also noted in a tweet that "Orban is also big on not being held accountable by the legal system, avoiding legislative oversight, and attacking an independent judiciary and a free media."

The Orban announcement comes the same morning that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo canceled a Tuesday meeting with German Prime Minister Angela Merkel. Pompeo chalked the cancellation up to "pressing issues," though given that Merkel has some pretty obvious issues with Orban, it's hard not to notice the coincidence.

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In other international controversies, Trump is also continuing trade talks with China this week even as the country's alleged human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority become more apparent. While Trump has promised to up tariffs on the country later this week, but hasn't brought up those violations or publicly considered sanctioning China for them.