The US president questioned the vote count after Lula narrowly defeated Jair Bolsonaro\u2019s son in the runoff<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has suggested that Brazil\u2019s presidential runoff election, narrowly won by left-wing incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, may have been rigged.
\nAccording to the official tally, Lula received 51.79% of the vote on Sunday, while his right-wing rival, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, secured 48.21%.
\n\u201cIt looked terrible to me,\u201d Trump told reporters on Monday. \u201cI didn\u2019t take sides, but it looked like another rigged election, frankly.\u201d
\nAsked whether he planned to \u201cdo something\u201d about the result, Trump replied: \u201cI\u2019m not running Brazil. I\u2019m running the U.S. I like Lula. I get along with him very well. I just think it had a very bad look \u2013 the election, the way it was tabulated.\u201d
\nBolsonaro announced on election night that he would seek to have the results annulled, accusing \u201cLula\u2019s allies\u201d in the government of foul play.<\/p>\n
Q: Do you want to do something about the election in Brazil?<\/p>\n
Trump: I’m not running Brazil. I’m running the U.S. I like Lula. I get along with him very well, but the extension given was very strange. https:\/\/t.co\/Sl1HUjiWde\u2014 Clash Report (@clashreport) October 26, 2026<\/p>\n
In the first round on October 4, Bolsonaro led with 47% of the vote to Lula\u2019s 45%. Some analysts suggested that Bolsonaro could win the runoff by attracting supporters of other right-wing candidates.
\nBolsonaro\u2019s father, Jair Bolsonaro, who served as Brazil\u2019s president from 2019 to 2022, is serving a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election to Lula. He has denied wrongdoing, describing the case as politically motivated.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Lula defeats Trump ally in Brazil\u2019s presidential election: As it happened<\/p>\n
Lula previously served two terms as president from 2003 to 2010. He was barred from running in the 2018 election following a corruption conviction, which was overturned in 2021, allowing him to run again in 2022. Lula has maintained his innocence, accusing his political opponents of using the judicial system against him.
\nTrump previously urged Brazilian authorities to drop the case against Jair Bolsonaro, calling his prosecution a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d His administration has also faced allegations of attempting to influence Brazil\u2019s 2026 presidential election in favor of Bolsonaro\u2019s son.
\nBrazilian police opened a preliminary inquiry into suspected US interference but closed it due to insufficient evidence. Reuters separately reported that two senior State Department officials had pushed for sanctions aimed at weakening Lula and boosting the Bolsonaro family\u2019s political fortunes. The State Department has denied seeking to interfere in the election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US president questioned the vote count after Lula narrowly defeated Jair Bolsonaro\u2019s son in the runoff US President Donald Trump has suggested that Brazil\u2019s presidential runoff election, narrowly won…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t