The U.S. State Department later announced the suspension of its consular services in Brazil ahead of the election taking place on Sunday, citing unspecified security concerns. “U.S. citizens seeking emergency assistance during this time should not come to the Embassy, the Consulates, or other U.S. diplomatic facilities,” the security alert advised.
While Trump has acknowledged his active interest as Brazil votes on its political future, there are concerns he could be too involved. Trump and his Administration have been accused of attempting to interfere with the high-stakes overseas election.
“Over the course of President Trump’s second term, we have seen U.S. officials engage in a sustained, multifaceted campaign of interference and destabilization in Brazil,” the lawmakers said in the Sept. 24 letter, signed by 30 House Democrats and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democratic Party.
“This effort first escalated sharply during the summer of 2025, with the [U.S.] Administration deploying tariffs and targeted sanctions to attempt to shape the Brazilian Supreme Court’s verdict in the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro on charges of attempting to foment a military coup to stay in power,” said the Senators, noting that the tariff pressure escalated in July this year when the Trump Administration moved to impose a new 25% tariff on many imports from Brazil—a decision labeled a “lamentable milestone” by Lula’s office.
Accusing the Trump Administration of using “diplomatic, economic, and political pressure in ways that risk weakening [Brazil’s] democratic institutions [and] undermining confidence in Brazil's electoral process,” the Senators closed the letter by asking the Administration to “commit to recognizing the certified outcome of Brazil's 2026 democratic elections.”
“Conservative leaders are winning elections across the Western Hemisphere on their own merit because everyone sees the success of President Trump’s policies,” said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly in a statement to TIME. “These claims are nonsense.”
Lula added that he is “very worried about Marco Rubio,” claiming that the U.S. Secretary of State “is very closely connected to Bolsonaro’s people,” though he stressed that this was only “suspicion.” TIME has reached out to the State Department for comment.
After Trump criticized the trial proceedings as a “terrible thing” in July 2025, the Trump Administration increased pressure on Brazil’s government by imposing punishing 50% tariffs— extended in part due to Bolsonaro’s treatment in the courts—and directing the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to investigate trade relations with the country.
Feliciano de Sá Guimarães, an associate professor at the Institute of International Relations at the University of São Paulo, says Lula was able to turn the economic pressure into a political argument of his own.
The theme of sovereignty has featured prominently in Lula’s 2026 government manifesto, which points to Trump’s tariffs as damaging the Brazilian economy.
Flávio Bolsonaro met with Trump, Rubio, and Vice President J.D. Vance at the White House in May. Trump later described the Brazilian lawmaker as a “smart young man, who loves his country very much.” Shortly after that meeting, the U.S. Administration on May 28 designated Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho—two Brazilian gangs—as terrorist organizations, with Bolsonaro appearing to take credit for the move in the media.
“Brazilians are so desperate with the situation of crime in the country that they are resorting to support any initiative, whether it's coming from the federal government or a foreign power to fix the problem,” Guimarães explains, so the move could be seen to strengthen Bolsonaro’s chances with the electorate.
Other disputes have further heightened diplomatic tensions. At the end of July, Brazil denied visas to two U.S. State Department officials, accusing them of trying to interfere in the upcoming election. Shortly afterward, Brazilian Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti had her U.S. visa revoked.
Is the Trump Administration influencing Latin America’s rightward-turn?
In November 2025, the Trump Administration released its National Security Strategy, which highlighted a return to U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere and the beginning of the implementation of the "Donroe Doctrine," an informal term for Trump’s reinterpretation of the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine.
Trump has also showcased his support for right-wing candidates across the region.
In June, he gave his “complete and total endorsement” to right-wing challenger Abelardo de la Espriella in Colombia's June presidential election. (The Trump-backed populist went on to win the race.)
But perhaps one of the most significant displays of American power came when the U.S. military captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife during an overnight operation in January and brought them to New York to face narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges.
“The main reason the [U.S. Administration] will always prefer a right-winger more aligned with the United States, is so they can sell to domestic audiences that, at least in Latin America, Trump's policy is to some extent an effective foreign policy,” Guimarães says.
He cites the creation of the Shield of Americas, a U.S.-led security and political coalition launched in March to fight drug cartels and transnational crime across the Western Hemisphere, as an example. Brazil has not joined the initiative.
Guimarães calls it an “initiative launched by Rubio who wants to bring all Latin American countries under the yoke of the United States to fight organized crime,” and argues that Lula’s resistance could fuel Rubio’s interest in seeing a right-wing government take power, as Bolsonaro has promised to integrate Brazil into the security initiative if he wins the presidential election.
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