President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he approves of Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro seeking refuge in the United States following the lawmaker’s defeat in Sunday’s presidential runoff election. The move comes as the younger Bolsonaro faces increasing legal pressure in his home country, having left Brazil after refusing to comply with a Supreme Court mandate to surrender his travel documents.
Speaking to reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews after returning from a campaign trip to Texas, Trump signaled his support for the Bolsonaro family, describing them as “fine people.” While reports on Tuesday suggested Flavio Bolsonaro had already departed Brazil for the United States, Trump noted he had heard the senator was currently in Argentina. Despite the legal controversy surrounding the senator’s departure, a senior U.S. State Department official confirmed that the United States would grant entry visas to Bolsonaro and his family members.
Flavio Bolsonaro, a member of the Liberal Party (PL), has yet to formally concede the October 25 runoff election to the leftist incumbent, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Trump characterized the election process in Brazil as “very strange” and suggested that the outcome was viewed unfavorably by international observers and financial institutions. “I thought it was terrible,” Trump said. “It’s gotten bad reviews. You look at what happened to their market.”
Trump’s comments also touched on his relationship with the senator’s father, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. He alleged that the elder Bolsonaro had been the victim of judicial persecution, stating that the father was “treated really badly.” While Trump maintained that he did not officially take sides in the Brazilian election because he knows both Lula and the Bolsonaros, he expressed significant personal sympathy for the outgoing opposition family, though he noted that Brazil is a “different country” with its own internal dynamics.
Beyond the situation in South America, the president used the appearance to outline a busy international diplomatic schedule. Trump stated that he expects to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the near future, asserting that substantial progress has been made toward a resolution of the war in Ukraine. This follows a statement from Putin indicating that Russia is prepared to resume U.S.-mediated negotiations as early as next month, provided that security guarantees are established for both nations and a broader European security framework is reached.
In addition to the Ukraine conflict, Trump announced an upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping focused on nuclear disarmament. The president is also scheduled to travel to Manila in November to attend a summit of the ASEAN regional bloc.
Domestically, Trump addressed the upcoming U.S. mid-term elections, where current polling indicates that the Republican Party faces a challenging environment. With the elections scheduled for next week, surveys suggest Democrats could potentially regain control of one or both houses of Congress. Trump also briefly commented on the Israeli elections, dismissing reports of losses for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party. He insisted that Netanyahu had performed well, suggesting that his own endorsement had played a significant role in the outcome.
The situation involving Flavio Bolsonaro remains a point of international friction, as his refusal to comply with the Brazilian Supreme Court’s order preceded his flight to North America. With the State Department moving forward with visa approvals, the presence of the Bolsonaro family in the United States may complicate diplomatic relations between the Trump administration and the incoming Brazilian government.
