Trump declines to back Flavio Bolsonaro's Brazil leadership claim despite US help

The Trump administration has no immediate plans to support Flavio Bolsonaro's claim to be Brazil's rightful leader, despite helping him reach the US after his election defeat, according to a Reuters report citing US officials. Trump has called Brazil's election "rigged" but stressed he endorsed neither candidate, while maintaining good relations with incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who won reelection by 3.5 percentage points. Officials said the president could change his position, suggesting reluctance to trigger another diplomatic crisis with Brazil. Bolsonaro fled Brazil after a Supreme Court justice ordered him to surrender his passport amid money-laundering investigations, crossing into Argentina and traveling to Miami via Ecuador. His father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is imprisoned for attempting a self-coup after losing the 2022 election.