Μake us preferred on Google SÃO PAULO—The Trump administration plans to issue visas to defeated presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and his family in order to allow them to enter the U.S., two State Department officials said on Tuesday, as Brazilian authorities probed whether he fled the country. U.S. officials didn’t confirm Bolsonaro’s whereabouts as of Tuesday evening.
Earlier on Tuesday, Brazil canceled Bolsonaro’s passports after he defied a Supreme Court order to turn over the documents, a Brazilian official said, as authorities investigated reports that he had fled to Argentina en route to the U.S.
Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro , faces two Supreme Court investigations into alleged financial crimes involving online betting and the financing of a film about his father. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered him late Sunday to surrender his passports and barred him from leaving the country.
Flávio Bolsonaro’s last public statement was late Monday when he posted a video to Instagram thanking his voters for their support after losing the presidential election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , and repeating accusations of possible foul play in the elections. In the video, he also denied any wrongdoing and said he would hand over his passports.
Bolsonaro’s spokesman didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Argentina’s border authorities said Tuesday they had searched a private jet at Iguazú Falls International Airport, near the border with Brazil and Paraguay, following local media reports that Bolsonaro intended to board the plane to fly to the U.S. Authorities said they found no evidence he was planning to board the aircraft.
Bolsonaro passports include a diplomatic one issued to him as senator, which was canceled along with his normal passport, said the Brazilian official.
There is no official record of Bolsonaro leaving Brazil via the country’s border with Argentina, the Brazilian official said. But there are many points along the crossing not manned by authorities.
President Trump and many of his allies have been vocal supporters of the Bolsonaro family. The president welcomed Flávio Bolsonaro into the Oval Office in May and praised him as a “smart young man who loves his country.” On Sunday, he questioned the election results, saying it “looked like another rigged election.”
The Bolsonaros have long accused de Moraes and the Supreme Court of conducting a political witch hunt against the family, repeatedly turning to Trump for support in their battles with Brazil’s judiciary. A U.S.-based adviser to the Bolsonaro family said it wouldn’t be irrational for Flávio Bolsonaro to flee the country, as he faces the prospect of jail time.
After losing the 2022 election to da Silva and refusing to concede defeat, Jair Bolsonaro flew to Florida in late December, two days before leaving office, as scrutiny from the Supreme Court mounted over his claims of election fraud. He returned to Brazil three months later, but became the subject of a lengthy investigation overseen by de Moraes into allegations over a plot to overturn the election result. Convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison late last year, the former president is now serving his sentence under house arrest.
Meanwhile, Flávio Bolsonaro’s younger brother, Eduardo, moved to the U.S. in early 2025, where he lobbied the Trump administration to intervene in his father’s prosecution. Those efforts earned him a conviction in Brazil. He now faces a four-year prison sentence if he returns to Brazil, but has secured a U.S. green card, allowing him to remain in the country permanently.
Over recent months, Flávio Bolsonaro has cultivated close ties with Argentine President Javier Milei , whose radical spending cuts he embraced as a model for Brazil. Milei traveled to Brazil in July to personally endorse Bolsonaro at the launch of his presidential campaign, a month after hosting him at the Argentine presidential residence in Buenos Aires.
De Moraes and the Supreme Court have defended their actions as necessary to uphold the law and protect democratic institutions, even as some legal scholars have accused de Moraes of overreach.
The Supreme Court opened an investigation into Flávio Bolsonaro in July over financing he sought for a film about his father from Daniel Vorcaro , the banker at the center of Brazil’s Banco Master fraud scandal. As a senator, criminal cases against him are dealt with by the Supreme Court. The court also opened another investigation into him this month for alleged money laundering over his ties to a lawyer involved in Brazil’s online betting industry. He denies wrongdoing in both cases.
Write to Samantha Pearson at samantha.pearson@wsj.com and Vera Bergengruen at vera.bergengruen@wsj.com
