The Trump administration on Friday removed sanctions it had placed on a Brazilian Supreme Court judge, only four months after it first targeted Justice Alexandre de Moraes for his role in the prosecution of former Brazilian president and Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro.
The move, a significant climbdown for the Trump administration’s pressure campaign in Brazil, was celebrated by the Brazilian government and supporters of Moraes but received with “regret” by Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo, who blamed the U.S. decision on divisions in Brazil’s right-wing opposition, according to a message he posted on social media.
The reversal follows a diplomatic effort by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to persuade President Donald Trump to roll back the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government in response to the trial that resulted in Bolsonaro being sentenced to 27 years in prison after an attempted military coup following his 2022 election loss.
The Trump administration offered little explanation for why it was removing the sanctions, which were imposed against Moraes on July 30. In a statement shared by the Treasury and State departments, the administration said that the “continued designation [of Moraes] is inconsistent with U.S. foreign policy interests.”
The statement, which was attributed to a senior administration official, also pointed to an amnesty bill passed recently by Brazil’s lower chamber of parliament, calling it a “a step in the right direction that signals lawfare conditions in Brazil are improving.”
That bill, which was approved Wednesday, must still pass Brazil’s Senate and could be vetoed by Lula. If it becomes law, the bill could significantly reduce Bolsonaro’s sentence as part of a broader reduction on sentences for those convicted of crimes related to the ransacking of the presidential palace, Supreme Court and Congress in January 2023.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted on social media Thursday that the passage of the bill marked “the beginning of a path to improve our relations” after what he called “efforts to use the legal process to weaponize political differences in Brazil.”
Moraes did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A notice published Friday by the Treasury showed that the United States had also removed later sanctions placed on the judge’s wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes, as well as the Lex Institute, a holding company for the family’s assets.
The Brazilian justice was a focal point for the Trump administration’s campaign in support of Bolsonaro, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio accusing Moraes of orchestrating a “political witch hunt” against the former president that “created a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil’s shores to target Americans.”
Moreas was sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act, which allows the U.S. to target foreign officials accused of corruption and human rights abuses.
Brazilian officials had refused to bow, however, with Moreas telling The Washington Post in August that there wasn’t “the smallest of possibilities of retreating even one millimeter.” Since September, Brazil’s left-wing president has led a campaign to get the U.S. to drop the sanctions.
A Brazilian official said that during a Dec. 2 call with Trump, Lula argued that Moraes could not be sanctioned for upholding Brazil’s constitution and that the sanctions were generating uncertainty across Brazil’s financial system. Trump told Lula on the call that he would review the request soon, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
Tensions between Brazil and the U.S. have abated since a short meeting between Trump and Lula at the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September. Last month, the Trump administration eased some tariffs it had placed on Brazil.
Trump had placed a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods in July, citing the prosecution of Bolsonaro, which he called an “international disgrace” in a letter to Lula.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, who moved to the U.S. this year to lobby the White House on his father’s behalf, posted a message on social media Friday suggesting that divisions within Brazil’s right wing may have influenced the U.S. decision.
“We received with regret the announcement of the American government’s latest decision,” Eduardo Bolsonaro wrote. “We are grateful for the support President Trump has shown throughout this journey and for the attention he has dedicated to the serious crisis of freedoms that plagues Brazil.”
The Bolsonaro family and right-wing leaders remain split over who should be their presidential candidate next year after Bolsonaro began serving his sentence last month. The former president is barred from running for office until 2060.
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