‘He can stay as long as he wants’: Trump backs Bolsonaro's stay in US after Brazil exit

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said that Flávio Bolsonaro was treated “very shabbily” in Brazil and that he could stay in the United States for as long as he wanted. US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press as he arrives for a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida on October 31, 2026.

(AFP)Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, said he has no plans to meet with Bolsonaro, who fled to the US after his election loss. “No plans to meet, but I think he got treated very shabbily.

Very shabbily, so he can stay here as long as he wants. Have you spoken with him? Bolsonaro, he can stay here as long as he wants.” Trump also called Brazil's elections a “disgrace” and repeated that Bolsonaro had been treated unfairly.

“He got treated very, in my opinion, the election was a disgrace. He got treated very shabbily and he can stay here as long as he wants,” Trump said in Florida while attending a Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago. Bolsonaro fled Brazil after losing elections to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and arrived in Miami with his wife Fernanda and their two daughters Luiza and Carolina on Wednesday.

The former presidential candidate is under investigation regarding a sports betting matter and a probe concerning the production of a film about his father, Jair Bolsonaro, who served as Brazil's president from 2019 to 2023, according to Brazilian authorities.

After arriving in Florida, Bolsonaro released a statement saying he is the “elected president” of Brazil and added that he will lead the opposition from the US. "I am the elected president, and the criminals who stole Brazil's election are part of a criminal organization that has established a tyranny," Bolsonaro said on X.

"I will lead the opposition from here." While President Trump backed Bolsonaro and said that he and his family could be granted political asylum in the US, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the Trump administration did not help Bolsonaro leave Brazil for the United States after his election defeat to Lula da Silva.

"We didn't facilitate anything," Rubio told reporters in Atlanta, where top diplomats from the Group of 20 largest world economies were gathered. "We had word that he had arrived in the United States. He had previously held a visa, and the president made a decision to allow him to enter the country," Rubio said, adding that the US government was not "involved directly in any of the moves that were made." Karishma Ayaldasani is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times, based in New Delhi, where she works with the digital team on fast-moving breaking stories from India and around the world.

She enjoys covering national and global news, focusing on delivering updates quickly and clearly so readers can make sense of what’s happening as it unfolds. Comfortable in high-pressure newsroom settings, she regularly contributes to live blogs, explainers and real-time coverage.

Before joining Hindustan Times, she was part of the digital team at The Indian Express, worked with the social media team at Firstpost, and spent time as a creative strategist at Clematis Advertising. Outside of work, she likes exploring different art forms and unwinds with music.

With over three years of experience in fast-paced newsrooms, she brings curiosity, clarity and consistency to her work.Read More