Trump Steps Up Pressure on Brazil in Letter to Bolsonaro

Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro

Photographer: Ton Molina/Bloomberg

Donald Trump ratcheted up pressure on Brazil to drop criminal charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro, saying he would be “watching closely” for a response just a week after threatening to impose punishing tariffs on the South American nation.

In an open letter addressed to Bolsonaro on Thursday, Trump described the right-wing populist leader as the victim of “terrible treatment” and again demanding that the trial over his alleged role in a failed coup attempt to overturn the 2022 election “should end immediately!”