A report claiming the Trump administration directed funds to right-wing groups is released ahead of Brazil’s presidential election. Published October 1, 2026 October 1, 2026 Brazil’s attorney general has asked authorities to investigate alleged efforts by the United States to interfere in the country’s domestic politics by diverting funds to far-right causes. Attorney General Jorge Messias called for the investigation Thursday, a day after British newspaper The Guardian published a story suggesting that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration planned to give $1 million to right-wing civil groups opposed to Brazil’s Supreme Court. Recommended stories list of 3 articlesend list Messias stated in a social media post that foreign meddling “cannot be tolerated” and that the report represented “an important alert for Brazilian sovereignty.” “The information is especially serious in light of Brazil’s electoral process and recent episodes of external pressure on our institutions,” the attorney general added. Inácio Lula da Silva seeks re-election. Lula has sought to focus attention on efforts Trump has undertaken to improve the prospects of far-right allies in Latin America, warning of threats to regional sovereignty. Trump has endorsed multiple right-wing candidates ahead of elections across the region, sometimes depending on vote results on the possibility of financial support. He has also cultivated close relationships with the family of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who lost to Lula in the last presidential election. The eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, is one of the favorites in the race to challenge Lula this year. Recent polls have shown that Lula and Bolsonaro are practically tied ahead of the first round of voting on October 4. Flavio Bolsonaro met with Trump at the White House in May. He has promised closer ties with the United States, while Lula has positioned himself as a critic of Trump’s interventionist approach to Latin American politics and security. The Guardian report published Wednesday claims that the Trump administration attempted to redirect $175 million from the State Department’s human rights fund to various far-right causes around the world. called “legal war and censorship.” Brazil’s Supreme Court has come under frequent criticism from the political right, both in Brazil and the U.S. Last year it imposed 50 percent tariffs on certain Brazilian products that it has since removed. At the time, he announced the tariffs in a letter denouncing Bolsonaro’s prosecution. “The way Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a leader highly respected around the world during his tenure, including the United States, is an international disgrace,” Trump wrote. The Trump administration also revoked the visas of Brazilian judicial officials involved in Bolsonaro’s case in an effort to dismiss it. He also imposed short-term sanctions against Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, accusing him of “an illegal witch hunt” against right-wing voices. Bolsonaro was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison in September 2025. In June, one of his sons, Eduardo Bolsonaro, was sentenced to more than four years in prison after a court ruled that he had pushed for the United States to interfere in his father’s case.
