Trump-Lula: a relationship of dramatic ups and downs

In Brazil's hotly contested election, US President Donald Trump is clearly hoping for a win by right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro, who has pledged to join a wave of conservative Latin American leaders cozying up to Washington.

Brazil's right-wing senator and presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL) speaks with journalists after meeting with jiu-jitsu practitioners at a gym during a campaign rally in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on September 29, 2026. Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP

Yet Trump has also shown an uncanny fondness for incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, saying that despite turbulent trade relations, he and the veteran leftist, both 80, have "excellent chemistry."

Victory for Bolsonaro, the son of jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro, would represent another major strategic triumph for Trump, who has been accumulating allies in the region through elections or, in the case of Venezuela, by force.

Brazil will join Trump's Shield of the Americas security initiative if Bolsonaro wins, the 45-year-old senator has said.

Source: Citizen Digital