The US president Donald Trump He expressed his indignation on Thursday (11.09.2025) following the historic ruling of the Brazilian Federal Court of Justice to condemn the former state leader Zaire Bolsonaro in years of imprisonment for his role in an attempted coup.
“I am very surprised to do so. It looks very much like what they tried to do in my case, “Donald Trump said in a conversation with reporters, comparing Zaire Bolsonaro’s situation with his own judicial adventures in the US.
Trump, who always had a close relationship with Bolsonaro, recalled that he had met him “when he was president of Brazil” and described him as a “good man”. He had even complained several times in the past what he considered “real witch hunt” against his ally in Latin America.
Targeted sanctions against Brazilian justice
After the decisionthe Trump government has announced a series of unprecedented sanctions against Brazilian justice. Washington has imposed new customs duties on many imported products, criminal measures against the Judge of the Supreme Court Alessandr de Moraes, who was supervised by the case, as well as visa restrictions on other members of the court. These movements signify a clear escalation of tension between the two countries.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the hard line. In a message on the X platform, he accused the Brazilian Supreme Court of “political persecution” and described the conviction as “unfair”. “There will be a proper response from the United States to this witch hunt,” Rubio warned, promising additional measures if the situation continues.
The political persecutions by sanctioned human rights abuser Alexandre de Moraes continue, as he and others on Brazil’s supreme court have unjustly ruled to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro.
The United States will respond accordingly to this witch hunt.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) September 11, 2025
An ideological alliance in a test
Zair Bolsonaro, a former far -right president and a declared fan of Donald Trump, remains a central figure of the radical right in Brazil. His condemnation of a coup attempt is a political milestone for the country. In Washington, the White House is facing this decision as an attack on a strategic ally.
Even before the verdict, the Trump government had multiplied support signals to Bolsonaro, trying to influence Brasilia through financial and diplomatic levers. Today, this ideological and political proximity between the two men brings US-Brazil relations to a level of rare scale.
Trump, who had promoted Bolsonaro to a key partner of his international strategy, seems determined not to let his ally collapse on his own. The coming months will show whether this US intervention will further sharpen the rupture between the Brazilian institutions and the US Presidency.