“I think he got treated very shabbily, very shabbily, so he can stay here as long as he wants,” US President Donald Trump told reporters at his Florida residence on Saturday, declaring that defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro could remain in the United States indefinitely.
The remarks follow Bolsonaro’s arrival in Miami on a Wednesday, coming just a day after the US Department of State announced that the former candidate and his family would be granted US visas following his October 25 election defeat to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, an outcome that bucked a broader conservative electoral trend across Latin America. Bolsonaro is currently under investigation in Brazil for alleged corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion. Before leaving his home country, Brazilian police deemed him a flight risk and ordered him to surrender his passport.
Secretary of State Denies Facilitation
Speaking in Atlanta, Georgia, where diplomats from the Group of 20 largest world economies gathered, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back against suggestions that Washington aided Bolsonaro’s departure. “We didn’t facilitate anything,” Rubio told reporters on Saturday.
Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and his family have landed in Miami after fleeing his country. This comes a day after they were granted United States visas by the Trump administration. pic.twitter.com/oB91ejWab5
Rubio clarified that the administration received word of Bolsonaro’s arrival after the fact. “He had previously held a visa, and the president made a decision to allow him to enter the country,” Rubio said, adding that the US government was not directly involved in any travel maneuvers. The Reuters news agency reported that Bolsonaro entered the US under a humanitarian parole status, which typically spans one year. Rubio also noted that he met with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira in Atlanta on Friday and Saturday, anticipating further discussions with Brazilian officials in France in November.
Contested Departure and Strained Relations
Trump’s open support and willingness to let Bolsonaro stay indefinitely signal that diplomatic friction between the Western Hemisphere’s two largest democracies may persist. Trump had previously labeled Brazil’s election as “rigged”.
After losing the run-off vote, Bolsonaro traveled to the United States via Argentina and Ecuador. According to reports from several US media outlets, parts of that journey were arranged with assistance from White House official Jason Miller. Bolsonaro has refused to concede the election, dismissing the results as fraudulent without presenting evidence. Since landing in Florida, he has publicly asserted that he remains the true “leader” of Brazil and that his departure was forced by “persecution”.
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