Lula’s Brazil Win Deals a Blow to Trumpism

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won an unprecedented fourth term on Oct. 25, defeating far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro with 51.79% of the vote, a margin of nearly 4.4 million votes, in a contest seen as a test of regional rightward shifts. Lula's comeback followed a first-round defeat three weeks earlier, where he trailed by 2.2 million votes amid high abstention of 21.08%. His campaign mobilized street rallies and digital outreach, while framing the runoff as a sovereignty issue after Washington imposed tariffs linked to Bolsonaro's prosecution. The victory interrupts a regional rightward drift and setbacks Trump's hemispheric ambitions, but Brazil remains deeply divided, with Flávio challenging the result and his party holding strong congressional power. Lula faces governing a country where nearly half of voters chose his opponent.