US president Donald Trump claimed Brazil’s presidential election looked “rigged” and “so corrupt” after incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated his right-wing ally Flávio Bolsonaro, raising questions over how Washington will respond to the result.Trump, speaking to reporters as he left Washington for a campaign rally ahead of next week’s US midterm elections, criticised the counting process and a last-minute decision to extend voting hours across Brazil.“It looked like another rigged election, frankly,” Trump said. “It was a terrible look for the world.”Asked whether he would take any action over the result, Trump declined to commit to a response, saying he was focused on domestic politics.“I’m not running for Brazil, I’m running for the USA,” he said. “I like Lula, I get along with him very well. I just thought it was a very bad look, the way it was tabulated — with the extension.”Trump did not provide evidence to support his claims of irregularities. His remarks came after Flávio Bolsonaro, the 45-year-old senator and son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, called for the runoff result to be annulled. The challenge is considered unlikely to overturn Lula’s victory.
Voting extension becomes focus of criticism
Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered voting to be extended nationwide by two hours on Sunday after both candidates sought additional time in some areas. Lula’s request followed problems involving buses transporting voters in nine states, while Bolsonaro cited heavy rain in southern Brazil.The extension caused confusion at some polling stations, with reports that voting machines had already been switched off before officials received the order to keep voting open.Trump described the extension as “very strange” and cited it as a reason the election had a “very bad look”. However, he did not present evidence that the decision or the vote count had altered the outcome.Flávio Bolsonaro’s demand to annul the result echoes efforts by his father to challenge his defeat in Brazil’s previous presidential election. Jair Bolsonaro was later convicted of plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in an attempt to overturn the result.
Trump’s Latin America ambitions face a setback
Trump’s comments come as he has repeatedly claimed credit for a rightward shift in Latin American politics, pointing to victories by conservative allies across the region. Brazil’s result leaves the country under Lula, a veteran left-wing leader whose government has clashed with Washington over trade and security policy.“In South America, it was all leaning big left — it’s all right now,” Trump told reporters last week, claiming that every candidate he had endorsed in the region had won.He described the shift towards conservative leadership as “extremely conservative in a very positive way”.An ally of the Bolsonaro family, Trump had backed a political direction for Brazil that would bring it closer to his administration. Flávio Bolsonaro had promised to improve ties with Washington and pursue better deals with the US, including in the strategic minerals sector.Despite the political divide, Trump has also spoken warmly of Lula. The two leaders have previously described their personal exchanges positively despite tensions over tariffs and other policy disputes.Lula’s victory therefore leaves Washington facing a Brazilian government that has resisted some of Trump’s economic and diplomatic pressure, even as the US president says he maintains good personal relations with the Brazilian leader.
