Brazil's Attorney General Jorge Messias has requested an investigation into alleged US interference in Brazil's domestic politics through funding directed towards far-right groups. This call for a probe comes after a report by The Guardian, which suggested that the Trump administration intended to allocate $1 million to right-wing civil organizations opposing the Brazilian Supreme Court.
Messias emphasized in a social media post that foreign interference 'cannot be tolerated' and described the report as a significant warning for Brazilian sovereignty. He noted the seriousness of the information in the context of Brazil's electoral process and recent external pressures on the country's institutions.
The report emerges during a contentious presidential election in which leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is campaigning for re-election. Lula has highlighted Trump's efforts to support far-right allies in Latin America, raising concerns about threats to regional sovereignty.
Trump has endorsed several right-wing candidates in the region, sometimes linking potential economic support to election outcomes. He has also maintained close ties with the family of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who lost to Lula in the previous election. Bolsonaro's eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, is a leading candidate against Lula in the upcoming election, with recent polls indicating a tight race ahead of the first round of voting on October 4.
Flavio Bolsonaro met with Trump at the White House in May and has pledged to strengthen ties with the US, while Lula has criticized Trump's interventionist policies in Latin America.
The Guardian's report claims that the Trump administration aimed to redirect $175 million from the State Department's human rights fund to various far-right initiatives globally. Allegedly, this included support for groups advocating for white Afrikaners in South Africa, whom the Trump administration has inaccurately characterized as victims of 'genocide,' as well as efforts in Brazil to counter what the US termed 'lawfare and censorship.'
Brazil's Supreme Court has faced ongoing criticism from right-wing factions in both Brazil and the US, particularly following Jair Bolsonaro's conviction in 2025 for involvement in a coup attempt to overturn his electoral defeat to Lula in 2022. Bolsonaro and his supporters, including Trump, have framed this conviction as political persecution.
In response to the trial, Trump imposed 50-percent tariffs on certain Brazilian goods, which he later rescinded. He criticized Brazil's treatment of Bolsonaro in a letter, calling it an 'international disgrace.' Additionally, the Trump administration revoked visas for Brazilian judicial officials involved in Bolsonaro's case and imposed temporary sanctions against Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, accusing him of conducting an 'unlawful witch hunt' against right-wing figures.
Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison in September 2025, and in June, his son Eduardo Bolsonaro received a sentence of over four years for lobbying for US intervention in his father's legal matters.