Flávio Bolsonaro, the presidential candidate defeated in Sunday’s election in Brazil, left for the United States on Tuesday, according to three U.S. officials, a day after the Brazilian police asked him to hand over his passports because he was being investigated in a money-laundering case.
The State Department plans to issue visas to Mr. Bolsonaro and his family to allow them entry into the United States, a senior State Department official said. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters.
The U.S. government’s assistance to Mr. Bolsonaro could escalate tensions between the Trump administration and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, who has accused President Trump of interfering in his country’s internal affairs.
Mr. Bolsonaro is being investigated over his links to a Brazilian lawyer who is accused of laundering more than $1 billion through a scheme involving online gambling and trading, according to a court document reviewed by The New York Times.
Separately, he is also the subject of an inquiry over millions of dollars he raised from a disgraced banker at the center of a huge corruption scheme to finance a biopic of his father, Jair Bolsonaro. The elder Mr. Bolsonaro was convicted of attempting a coup after losing the presidential election in 2022 to Mr. Lula.
Mr. Lula also won a runoff election against the younger Mr. Bolsonaro on Sunday. Mr. Lula’s win was a stunning comeback after he came in second in the first round of voting. His victory halted a right-wing winning streak of seven presidential elections in Latin America and was a setback for Mr. Trump, who has often clashed with the Brazilian leader.
Flávio Bolsonaro, who has not been charged, has denied wrongdoing and cast the investigations as political persecution. Once Mr. Bolsonaro’s term as a senator ends in February 2027, he will lose his parliamentary immunity because he was not elected president, and he could be prosecuted in relation to these probes.
On Monday, Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered Mr. Bolsonaro to hand over his passports within 24 hours. In a video posted to social media, he said he would comply with the order, claiming he had never considered leaving Brazil. The request to turn over his travel documents was made after he visited his father, who is under house arrest.
But the younger Mr. Bolsonaro ultimately failed to comply by the deadline, and his Brazilian documents were canceled by the authorities. He also holds Italian citizenship.
Mr. Lula, speaking at an event for his 81st birthday, criticized his political rival. “I have just learned that my opponent has fled,” he said. “This act of leaving Brazil is shameful, truly shameful.”
On Tuesday, much of the Western Hemisphere was transfixed by one question: Where was Flávio Bolsonaro?
Even as U.S. officials and allies of Mr. Bolsonaro claimed he had left Brazil, it was not yet clear how, or if, he would reach the United States.
Some of Mr. Bolsonaro’s closest allies said they had no clue where he was. The Brazilian police were left scrambling for answers. On social media, Mr. Bolsonaro’s allies in the United States welcomed him, claiming he would lead Brazil’s right-wing opposition while in exile.
The White House and State Department did not respond to requests for comment on Mr. Bolsonaro’s travels.
The Trump administration didn’t officially endorse Mr. Bolsonaro’s bid for the presidency. But the State Department, under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, had worked behind the scenes to bolster Mr. Bolsonaro’s standing in Brazil ahead of the election.
The State Department designated Brazil’s two largest drug gangs as terrorist organizations this year, after aggressive lobbying by Mr. Bolsonaro and his brother, Eduardo, who has been living in Texas since early 2025.
The Trump organization also tried on two occasions to send envoys to meet with Mr. Bolsonaro and his father ahead of the vote, but were barred by the Brazilian authorities amid fears that the United States was seeking to meddle in their country’s elections. The United States responded by canceling the visa of Brazil’s top diplomat in Washington.
By Tuesday evening, Mr. Bolsonaro’s whereabouts was still unclear. His campaign manager, Rogério Marinho, a senator from the same political party, told reporters he had been surprised by the news that Mr. Bolsonaro had suddenly departed Brazil. Mr. Marinho said he had exchanged messages with Mr. Bolsonaro around 8 a.m. Tuesday but had not heard from him since.
Tuesday’s mystery echoed an asylum drama involving Mr. Bolsonaro’s father, who spent two days hiding in the Hungarian Embassy in Brazil after the police charged him with attempting a coup. Later, documents seized by the police showed he had also considered seeking asylum in Argentina.
After initially rejecting the election results, the younger Mr. Bolsonaro accepted his defeat on Monday but claimed that Mr. Lula had used unfair tactics to win. Mr. Bolsonaro said he planned to file a legal challenge, seeking to strip Mr. Lula of his electoral win.
Mr. Trump also criticized Brazil’s election on Monday, saying “it looked like another rigged election.”
Immediately after his loss, Mr. Bolsonaro seized on a change in the voting hours on Sunday to call the election fraudulent.
Brazil’s judiciary had ordered voting to be extended by two hours because of torrential rains and bus delays that had prevented voters from reaching polling stations. The extension, which both candidates asked for, came as voting was nearing a close and caused widespread chaos as the electoral authorities across Brazil tried to extend the voting hours.
But Brazil’s electoral court dismissed these complaints, insisting the change had not affected the election. Data show that only a small fraction of votes — 34,300 ballots — were cast after regular voting hours. Mr. Lula defeated Mr. Bolsonaro by 4.4 million votes.
Even after accepting the result, Mr. Bolsonaro said Mr. Lula had unfairly used government funds to win, citing the leftist president’s move to raise a welfare stipend days before the vote. (Mr. Lula’s government claimed the raise was an inflation adjustment.)
Mr. Bolsonaro’s brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, maintains close ties to the Trump administration. The U.S. government granted the brother permanent resident status, known as a green card, in July.
Jack Nicas contributed reporting.
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