Joe Biden has criticised his election rival Donald Trump for meeting Viktor Orbán, saying the Hungarian premier was “looking for dictatorship”.

Orbán travelled to Florida on Friday to meet his “good friend” Trump. Orbán has frequently expressed hope for the Republican’s return to power.

“You know who he’s meeting with today, down in Mar-a-Lago?” Democrat Biden told supporters in a campaign rally that repeatedly critised Trump.

“Orbán of Hungary, who stated flatly he doesn’t think democracy works and is looking for dictatorship.”

He added: “I see a future where we defend democracy, not diminish it.”

Orbán on Friday posted a Facebook picture of himself and the former US leader outside what appeared to be Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

“Make America great again, Mr. President!” Orbán wrote in English.

“The visit emphasised building relations between American and Hungarian conservatives, and the benefits that could come from the election of President Trump in November,” Orbán aide Gladden Pappin told Agence-France Presse, confirming the meeting had taken place.

Biden referred to the Orbán meeting immediately after criticising Trump for having encouraged the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to invade Nato countries that did not pay their financial dues.

Hungary is the only EU member that has maintained close ties with the Kremlin after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Orbán regularly advocates for immediate ceasefire and peace talks, arguing Trump, who has previously expressed admiration for Putin, is best qualified to find a way out of the conflict.

The Hungarian leader angered fellow EU leaders by meeting Putin in September and has previously spoken out against western sanctions on Moscow.