Brazil’s Biggest Election Question?: Donald Trump’s Next Move

Brazil’s Biggest Election Question?: Donald Trump’s Next Move - The New York Times

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The Big Question Looming Over Brazil’s Elections: President Trump’s Next Move

As Brazil prepares to hold elections next month, Latin America’s biggest nation is taking steps to shield its democracy from potential American meddling.

Listen · 10:45 min

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!A crowd waving Brazilian flags marches down a street around a huge, inflatable float depicting President Trump holding aloft a cartoon person dressed in prison stripes.

*Supporters of the right-wing presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro waved American flags and brandished a blowup doll of President Trump clutching an imprisoned President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at a rally this month in São Paulo, Brazil. Credit...Andre Penner/Associated Press*

By Ana Ionova and Adam B. Ellick

Ana Ionova reported from Brasília and Washington, and Adam B. Ellick from Brasília and São Paulo, Brazil.

Sept. 28, 2026Updated 9:19 a.m. ET

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Since taking office, President Trump has become an electoral kingmaker in Latin America. Right-wing candidates aligned with Washington have won the past seven elections in the region, with Mr. Trump explicitly endorsing the winner in two of them.

“We’re doing very well in South America,” Mr. Trump told reporters this month. “Lots of people that I got elected.”

Now comes the biggest regional test for the right and for Mr. Trump’s record of success: Brazil.

As Brazilians prepare to head to the polls, the question looming over Latin America’s largest democracy is whether Mr. Trump will try to influence its presidential election next month.

The American leader has not openly championed any Brazilian candidate. But the Trump administration has in more subtle ways lifted the right-wing challenger, Flávio Bolsonaro, who is running against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a leftist.

Having watched Mr. Trump wade into other elections and experienced his failed attempt to help Mr. Bolsonaro’s father avoid prison for plotting a coup, Brazil is erecting a firewall to try to shield its high-stakes vote from potential U.S. meddling.

The efforts include monitoring foreign lobbying and disinformation, fighting false claims about electoral fraud and enlisting the support of countries in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

Ana Ionova is a correspondent for The Times, covering Brazil and neighboring countries.

Adam B. Ellick is The Times’s Brazil bureau chief, based in São Paulo.

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