Trump welcomes Flavio Bolsonaro to stay in US after Brazil election defeat

Donald Trump has said that Brazil's opposition leader Flavio Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil's presidential election to left-wing incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva last week, was welcome to stay in the US as long as he wanted. Trump called the election a “disgrace” and claimed that Flavio was treated “shabbily”. He added that he has no plans to meet him any time soon.

"No plans to meet, but I think he got treated very shabbily. Very shabbily. So, he can stay here as long as he wants," Trump said while speaking during a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago club, in Palm Beach, Florida.

"In my opinion, the election was a disgrace," he added.

Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, secured 48.24% of the vote in the election, while Lula secured 51.67 per cent of the vote. He said it was "impossible to recognise the election results" because of the delay. He challenged the results on the premise that the voting was extended for two hours over alleged voter transportation issues.

He was asked to hand over his passport from active money laundering investigations amid speculations that he was planning to flee to Florida. Bolsonaro insisted that he would not leave the country, but after the deadline to hand in his passports concluded, he fled to Florida. Bolsonaro posted a video to social media claiming the order was an act of political pressure

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Bolsonaro presented a cancelled Brazilian diplomatic passport to the US border agents; the Trump administration bypassed standard entry protocols and granted him and his family diplomatic parole. Flávio's father and the Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro did the same in December 2022, after losing the election, to avoid facing political and legal consequences in Brazil.

Unlike Flávio, Jair was still the sitting President for 48 hours; he entered the US on a valid A-1 diplomatic visa, entirely bypassing standard tourist immigration. In his absence, Bolsonaro's supporters tried to storm Brazil's government buildings on January 8, 2023, resembling the storming of the US Capitol, instigated by Trump after his own defeat. The Brazilian Supreme Court took over; the rioters were tried, and police arrested over 1,500 rioters within 24 hours. Jair was later stripped of his political rights and sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for orchestrating the coup plot.