THIS IS HUGE: Lula just defeated Trump ally Flávio Bolsonaro to win a historic fourth term as Brazil’s president
Brazil just handed Donald Trump’s ally a loss, and it was historic.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won reelection on Sunday, defeating Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, an ally of Trump, in a razor-thin runoff, according to CNN. The win makes the 80-year-old leader the first Brazilian president ever elected four times.
He did it the hard way.
Lula finished behind Bolsonaro in the first round on October 4, trailing by about 2.2 million votes. It’s the first time since direct presidential elections returned in 1989 that a candidate has won the presidency after finishing second in the first round.
Bolsonaro’s movement had every reason to feel confident. The right has been winning across Latin America, with right-wing or center-right candidates taking presidential elections in Ecuador, Bolivia, Honduras, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia and Peru since April 2025.
Lula held the line anyway.
The stakes went well beyond Brazil. Bolsonaro’s father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a prison sentence for attempting to overturn his 2022 defeat to Lula. The family movement wanted its comeback, and Flávio couldn’t do what his father also failed to do: beat Lula at the ballot box.
Trump had his hand in the race too. He said he was monitoring the runoff and praised Flávio’s first-round performance, while his administration’s tariffs on Brazil and pressure over Jair Bolsonaro’s prosecution strained relations with Lula.
Lula answered with sovereignty. He emphasized Brazil’s independence, ties with the Global South and his resistance to Trump’s tariffs as a defense of the country’s right to decide for itself.
Brazilians heard both arguments and chose the leader who stood up to Washington.
It’s one of the biggest comebacks in modern politics, and a loss for Trump’s allies abroad.