The key facts

  • Lula da Silva won the runoff with 51.79% of the vote against 48.21% for Flavio Bolsonaro
  • Trump called the election 'rigged' and 'corrupt' without providing evidence
  • Bolsonaro initially refused to concede defeat, then said he was banned from leaving Brazil

Trump's statement after the Brazilian runoff

US President Donald Trump said on Monday, October 26, that the presidential elections held in Brazil looked 'rigged' and 'corrupt,' without providing any evidence for these claims. This was reported by the Anadolu agencyas well as euronews and Gazeta.Ru. According to Anadolu, Trump was answering journalists' questions on his way to a rally in Corinth, Mississippi; Gazeta.Ru describes it as a briefing at Andrews military base near Washington — the outlets differ on the location of the remarks but quote similar statements.

What exactly the US leader said

'Honestly, it looked like another rigged election. I didn't take sides, but it was a terrible sight,' Gazeta.Ru quotes Trump as saying. He stressed that the election results must be indisputable and added that he liked neither the election itself nor the vote count. At the same time, according to Gazeta.Ru, Trump noted: 'I like Lula. I got along very well with him. I just think it all looked very bad.' He also repeated that he had not supported either candidate.

The election result and the loser's reaction

The trigger for the statements was the runoff held on Sunday: incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth non-consecutive term, receiving 51.79% of valid votes (more than 64 million ballots) against 48.21% for Senator Flavio Bolsonaro — the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. According to Gazeta.Ru, the loser initially refused to accept the results and intended to seek the annulment of the outcome, calling Lula's victory a 'dirty trick'; the winner has already been congratulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders. euronews adds that Bolsonaro later said he was ready to 'organize the opposition,' and in a video message on social media announced that he was barred from leaving Brazil and had been required to surrender his passports. Earlier this year, Trump hosted Bolsonaro at the White House and called him 'a smart young man who loves his country very much.'

Context of the administration's position

euronews points to a broader backdrop: the Trump administration has welcomed the wave of right-wing victories in elections across South America. Last week Trump said: 'South America was tilting heavily to the left. Now it's all tilting right. I endorsed many of these people. Everyone I endorsed won.' At the same time, he said he had not taken sides in the Brazilian election. He provided no evidence for his claims of fraud — a point noted separately by both Anadolu and euronews.