Trump Backs Possible US Visit by Defeated Brazilian Candidate Bolsonaro
"Would I approve them? Yeah, I would approve it. I would think it would be okay with me," Trump told reporters after returning from campaign rallies in Texas ahead of next week’s US midterm elections.
Trump characterized Sunday’s Brazilian election, won by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva by more than 4 million votes, as "very strange." However, he stressed that he had not supported either candidate during the campaign.
"I didn't endorse in Brazil. I thought I'd stay out of that one," he said, adding that he accepted the result but described the electoral process as "terrible."
Asked about Bolsonaro’s whereabouts, Trump said: "I heard he was in Argentina. I don't know where he is."
The comments followed confirmation from a senior US State Department official on Tuesday that Washington would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family.
Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported, citing people close to the family, that Bolsonaro had arrived in Miami, Florida, where his brother Eduardo welcomed him. Eduardo was reportedly involved in coordinating his departure with US authorities.
The reported departure came despite a travel ban imposed on Monday by a justice of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court, one day after Bolsonaro lost the presidential runoff to Lula.
Brazil’s Federal Police revoked Bolsonaro’s ordinary and diplomatic passports on Tuesday after he failed to comply with an order requiring him to surrender the documents.
The restrictions are connected to an investigation into suspected money laundering and foreign-exchange evasion involving financial transactions linked to an associate of Bolsonaro.
The senator, who denies any wrongdoing, said on Monday that he had no plans to leave Brazil.
Meanwhile, Brazilian police said Tuesday they had found no record of Bolsonaro departing through an official immigration checkpoint. Argentine immigration authorities also reported having no record of his entry into Argentina.
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