Donald Trump Calls Brazil Election ‘Rigged’ After Lula Victory

President Donald Trump said on Monday, October 26, that Brazil’s presidential election looked like it was “rigged,” without citing evidence. Leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the election.

“It looked like another rigged election, frankly,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. “I didn’t take sides, but it was a terrible look for the world. Elections have to be indisputable, and it looked really bad to me.”

When asked if he would “do something about the election,” Trump said, “I am not running Brazil, I’m running the USA.”

Trump Questions Election

Trump's comments put him at odds with the declared result in Brazil and added to uncertainty around Washington's response to the outcome. He did not offer any evidence for his claim that the election looked “rigged”.

He repeated that line later in remarks carried by ANI. “I didn’t take sides, I didn’t endorse anybody or anything, but I watched the election and it looks so corrupt. So terrible,” Trump said of the election, per ANI.

His refusal to act was equally direct. Asked whether he would step in, Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews that he was focused on the United States, not Brazil.

Lula Wins Comeback

Lula da Silva won the election and secured a fourth term in office in a comeback over his right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro. The result returns him to power after a race that drew attention well beyond Brazil.

Trump never explicitly endorsed a candidate. But he did embrace Bolsonaro at times, as did the broader MAGA movement, Politico reported.

Trump also publicly promoted Bolsonaro's father, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. That added to the political overlap between Trump's camp and Bolsonaro's supporters even without a formal endorsement.

Bolsonaro Refuses Concession

Bolsonaro has refused to concede and has called for the results to be annulled. That has kept the political fight alive even after Lula's victory was declared.

A Brazilian official said they were confident the United States would eventually recognise Lula's victory. The official said the voting numbers were hard to dispute.

The same official also issued a blunt warning about any refusal by Washington to accept the result. “So what if Trump doesn’t recognize? At the most, we can break diplomatic ties, to the benefit of China, but the U.S. will not invade Brazil to impose a puppet government. We are not a Venezuela. Our government will stand,” the official said, according to Politico.

Backlash And Celebration

The result set off both celebration and backlash. Lula had earlier defied Trump on issues such as tariffs, and his victory quickly drew criticism from some Trump supporters.

Among them was Steve Bannon. He called on the US president and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to cut off diplomatic relations and “shut down everything with Brazil.”

Lula, meanwhile, used his victory speech to frame the result as a defence of democracy. “This is God’s work – and it’s thanks to all of you,” Lula told supporters gathered in central São Paulo in the early hours of Monday to celebrate his comeback, The Guardian reported.

He then cast the win in wider political terms. “Today is a historic day,” Lula declared. “Democracy always, dictatorship never again. Democracy always, fascism never again.”