LatinNews Daily - 02 November 2026

Brazil: On 28 October US President Donald Trump declined to answer a question from reporters about who he believed to be the legitimate winner of Brazil’s 25 October presidential run-off, which saw the re-election of leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula’s right-wing rival, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who is under investigation in relation to multiple corruption cases, fled to the US following the vote, where he declared himself as Brazil’s rightful leader and alleged electoral fraud. “I don’t want to comment right now but I thought the election was a very great embarrassment to the people of Brazil,” said Trump when asked about the result. Trump went on to say that he had not “take[n] sides” or endorsed any candidate, but that “when I watched what went down in Brazil, I thought it was a disgrace”. This echoes comments Trump had made to reporters on 27 October, when he said that, “it looked like another rigged election, frankly… Elections have to be indisputable, and it looked very bad to me… so corrupt”. The State Department is reportedly issuing US visas to Bolsonaro and his family, while The New York Times reported on 29 October that Trump and his aides had helped Bolsonaro and his family flee Brazil, although US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on 31 October that the US government “didn’t facilitate anything” in terms of Bolsonaro leaving Brazil. The extent of the Trump administration’s support for Bolsonaro, however, looks uncertain. On 30 October Reuters reported that Washington does not plan to back Bolsonaro’s claim to be the rightful leader of Brazil, citing an anonymous US official and another person familiar ​with the matter. The sources noted that Trump could changes his stance on the issue, however. While Lula’s victory was decisive, winning by over 4m votes, Bolsonaro has seized on an extension of voting hours to cast doubt on the validity of the election. Votes cast during the extension period were not enough to affect the result and international observers, most countries in the region, and even Bolsonaro’s far-right Partido Liberal, have recognised the result.