Brazil court orders raids, restraints on Bolsonaro for colluding with Trump
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Ex-Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro speaks during a press conference in front of the Federal Senate in Brasilia, Brazil, on July 17, 2025.
PHOTO: EPA
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BRASILIA - Brazil’s Supreme Court issued search warrants and restraining orders against former President Jair Bolsonaro on July 18, banning him from contacting foreign officials over allegations he had courted the interference of US President Donald Trump.
Federal police raided Bolsonaro’s home and put an ankle monitor on him, an escalation in the legal pressure he is already facing and that Mr Trump has tried to relieve with a steep tariff on Brazilian goods. Bolsonaro told Reuters that he believed the court orders were a reaction to Trump’s criticism of his trial before the Supreme Court.
The court’s crackdown on Bolsonaro added to evidence that Mr Trump’s tactics are backfiring in Brazil, compounding trouble for his ideological ally and rallying public support behind a defiant leftist government.
Bolsonaro was banned from contacting foreign officials, using social media or approaching embassies, according to the decision issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who cited a “concrete possibility” of him fleeing the country.
In an interview with Reuters at his party’s headquarters on July 18, Bolsonaro called Mr Moraes a “dictator” and described the latest court orders as acts of “cowardice.”
“I feel supreme humiliation,” he said, when asked how he felt about wearing the ankle monitor. “I am 70 years old, I was president of the republic for four years.”
Bolsonaro denied any plans to leave the country, but said he would meet with Mr Trump if he could get access to his passport, which police seized in 2024. He also said he had sought out the top US diplomat in Brazil to discuss Mr Trump’s tariff threat.
In his decision, Mr Moraes said the restrictions against Bolsonaro were due to accusations that the former president was making efforts to get the “head of state of a foreign nation” to interfere in Brazilian courts, which the judge cast as an attack on national sovereignty.
Federal police are seen in front the house of the former president Jair Bolsonaro on July 18, 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Bolsonaro is on trial before Brazil’s Supreme Court on charges of plotting a coup to stop President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023.
Mr Trump has in recent weeks pressed Brazil to stop the legal case against Bolsonaro, saying that his ally was the victim of a “witch hunt”. The US president said last week he would impose a 50 per cent tariff on Brazilian goods
Mr Trump on July 17 shared on Truth Social a letter he sent to Bolsonaro. “I have seen the terrible treatment you are receiving at the hands of an unjust system turned against you. This trial should end immediately!” he wrote.
Mr Moraes wrote in his decision that the higher tariffs threatened by Mr Trump were aimed at creating a serious economic crisis in Brazil to interfere in the country’s judicial system.
Bolsonaro was also prohibited from contacting key allies including his son Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman who has been working in Washington to drum up support his father.
Bolsonaro told Reuters he had been talking to his son almost daily, denying any concerted US lobbying effort on his behalf. He said he expected his son to seek US citizenship to avoid returning to Brazil.
A five-judge panel of Supreme Court judges reviewed and upheld Mr Moraes’ decision on July 18 afternoon. REUTERS
