The American newspaper The New York Times stated in an editorial that President Donald Trump’s interference in foreign elections, with Brazil as the main example, harms democracy and the United States’ own national interests.
The piece was published in the week Lula (PT) was reelected, defeating Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) in the second round on Sunday (the 25th), with around 51.8% of valid votes.
“President Donald Trump is taking the United States back to that past of meddling and counterproductive consequences. In the last two years, he or members of his cabinet declared support for candidates in Argentina, Colombia, Honduras, Hungary, Israel, Japan, and Poland. In some cases, the Trump administration went further and rewarded its preferred candidates with favorable policies or punished countries governed by politicians it wishes to remove from power,” the publication says.
The newspaper notes that Trump never formally declared support for Flávio, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), but indicates that Washington’s measures favored his candidacy. Among them are a tariff on most Brazilian goods imported into the United States, imposed in 2025, and sanctions on Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Federal Court (STF).
The move to retaliate against ministers of the Brazilian Supreme Court is attributed to the coordination with former deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flávio’s brother.
“This meddling undermines the cause of democracy and the United States’ national interests. Interfering in the elections of a democratic state is an undemocratic act: after all, Americans are not part of Brazil’s electorate. Behind the Trump administration’s interventions is a disrespectful message: that Americans — or at least a small group of them — believe they know better than Brazilians what is best for Brazil,” says the Times.
In the United States, Democratic lawmakers had already been warning about the risks of U.S. intervention in the Brazilian election. In a letter sent to the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, Senators Peter Welch, Jeanne Shaheen and Tim Kaine accused members of the government of conducting a destabilization campaign in Brazil.
For the NYT, the White House strategy also weakens America’s international position by favoring far-right politicians around the world. The paper notes that the United States’ global influence depends on its leaders’ willingness to defend the democratic ideals they claim to represent.
