Photo: Agencia Senado / Wikimedia Commons. File photo of Flavio Bolsonaro speaking in Brazil's Congress in May 2026.
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro arrived in Miami on Wednesday after fleeing Brazil following his defeat in Sunday's presidential election, Reuters reported, in a departure that has deepened a rift between Washington and Brasilia. TV footage showed him stepping off a plane at Miami's Opa-locka Executive Airport with his wife and two daughters, CNN reported.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he approved of Bolsonaro coming to the United States, telling reporters at Joint Base Andrews on his return from a campaign trip to Texas: "Well, I would approve. I think they're fine people." Trump added that he thought Brazil's election was strange and terrible, while saying he had not taken sides.
How he got to Miami
Bolsonaro left Brazil after refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports. Argentina's migration department said he and his family briefly entered Argentina before boarding a private flight bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Tuesday, according to the flight plan, Reuters reported. Reuters TV images then showed his arrival in Miami on Wednesday.
A senior US State Department official said Washington would grant entry visas to Bolsonaro and his family, Reuters reported on Tuesday. A Trump adviser told CNN that administration officials knew on Monday that Bolsonaro had roughly 24 hours to surrender his passport and made clear he would be allowed entry into the US. It is unclear whether Trump and Bolsonaro spoke directly by phone before his departure, CNN reported.
Why he left: the court order and the investigation
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro on Sunday night to hand over his passports, and federal police served the order on Monday, giving him 24 hours. The order is part of a money-laundering investigation in which Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing. After the deadline passed without the passports being handed in, federal police cancelled all of his Brazilian passports, including the diplomatic passport he holds as a senator.
A Brazilian source close to Bolsonaro told CNN he had feared arrest in Brazil. Bolsonaro himself had said on Monday that he had no plans to flee and would hand over his passports and defend himself. He has yet to concede defeat, saying he would seek annulment of the result over alleged voter irregularities, although his Liberal Party said on Monday it acknowledged President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's victory. Bolsonaro lost Sunday's runoff to Lula after having been favoured to win, Reuters reported.
A deepening US–Brazil rift
Lula has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaro family to help return them to power, Reuters reported. Ahead of Sunday's election, Reuters reported on a US State Department campaign to restore the Bolsonaros to office. The departure echoes the path of Flavio's father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who travelled to the United States after refusing to concede defeat to Lula in 2022. Jair Bolsonaro later returned to Brazil and was given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia.
What happens next is uncertain. Flavio Bolsonaro loses his immunity from prosecution when his Senate term ends in February, and he faces the money-laundering investigation at home while now in the United States. Whether Washington's welcome hardens into a longer stay — and how Lula's government responds — will shape relations between the two largest countries in the Americas in the weeks ahead.
Sources: Reuters (Miami arrival, Trump approval quote, State Department visas, Argentina flight plan, Lula collusion accusation, father's history); CNN (Opa-locka arrival with family, Trump adviser account, fear-of-arrest source, passport cancellation); Associated Press reporting via other outlets (passport order and money-laundering probe, Bolsonaro's denial of wrongdoing). Allegations in the investigation are unproven and Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing.