Trump team arranged private jet for Flávio Bolsonaro's flight to the US, report says
The New Republic, citing The New York Times, reports the defeated Brazilian candidate reached Miami on special parole as he faced a Supreme Court order to surrender his passport.
President Trump personally helped Flávio Bolsonaro, the right-wing candidate who lost Brazil's presidential election, leave Brazil for the United States, according to The New Republic, citing a report in The New York Times. This story rests on that single account.
Bolsonaro landed in Miami on Wednesday after losing the election to the incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, The New Republic reported. He flew from Argentina to Ecuador and then to Miami on a private jet handled by Jason Miller, a White House communications official, an unnamed administration official told the Times.
According to the report, Bolsonaro and his family entered the United States on a special kind of parole usually reserved for "urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit." The New Republic said he apparently showed Homeland Security an expired diplomatic passport.
His next step will be to apply for a green card. An administration official said that process will be fast-tracked, much as it was for his brother Eduardo, who was granted permanent residency last year, the outlet reported.
The departure matters because of what Bolsonaro left behind. Brazil's Supreme Court had ordered him to hand over his passport by Monday, because he was under criminal investigation over what The New Republic described as a massive money-laundering scheme. The outlet said he would have faced multiple criminal investigations had he stayed, and that he was reportedly convinced he would be arrested after losing the election.
His father, Jair Bolsonaro, is serving house arrest in Brazil. The New Republic said the elder Bolsonaro also briefly went to Florida in late 2022, before his arrest.
The report also points to close ties between Trump and the Bolsonaro family. On Monday, Trump claimed without evidence that the election had been rigged against Bolsonaro.
“It looked like another rigged election, frankly. Elections have to be indisputable, and it looked very bad to me.”Donald Trump, speaking to reporters
Bolsonaro has not conceded to Lula. On Wednesday, writing from the United States, he declared himself the leader of Brazil in a letter, The New Republic reported.
Several things remain unclear. The report does not say how Homeland Security came to approve the parole, or whether officials knew the diplomatic passport had expired. It does not include any response from the White House, from Miller or from Bolsonaro. It also does not say how Brazilian authorities or the Supreme Court have responded to his departure, or whether Brazil will try to have him returned. Whether his green card application will be approved, and how quickly, is not yet known.
