The once-influential former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has found himself entangled in deep legal trouble as his ambitions to attend Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration crumbled.
A Brazilian judge on Thursday denied Bolsonaro’s request to reclaim his confiscated passport, citing concerns he might use it to flee the country amid investigations into his alleged involvement in a coup plot.
Bolsonaro, whose presidency lasted from 2019 to 2023, is accused of orchestrating a wide-reaching conspiracy to dismantle Brazil’s democratic system and prevent the inauguration of his leftist rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after losing the 2022 election. His travel document was seized by federal police in February 2024 as part of a growing investigation into the alleged coup attempt, which federal prosecutors claim included plans to kidnap or assassinate top political leaders.
In November 2024, Bolsonaro was formally charged along with nearly 40 others in what has been described as a criminal plot to overturn the election. Despite the seriousness of the accusations, Bolsonaro’s lawyers filed a petition earlier this month asking Brazil’s Supreme Court to allow him a six-day trip to the United States. His reason? To attend the January 20 inauguration of his political idol and ally, Donald Trump.
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The request was accompanied by Bolsonaro’s lighthearted yet bizarre remarks to The New York Times, where he quipped, “I’m so excited about seeing Trump in the flesh that I’m not even taking Viagra anymore.”
However, Judge Alexandre de Moraes rejected the petition, citing the “seriousness of the crimes ascribed” to Bolsonaro. He concluded that returning the former president’s passport posed a risk of him absconding. On the eve of the decision, Brazil’s prosecutor general, Paulo Gonet, argued that public interest in ensuring Bolsonaro faced justice outweighed his “private interest” in attending the swearing-in of the 47th U.S. president.
This setback is another blow to Bolsonaro’s already tarnished reputation. A damning 884-page federal police report released in late 2024 alleged that Bolsonaro played a leading role in persuading military officials to back a right-wing coup. The report has brought him closer than ever to the possibility of imprisonment, according to political analysts.
“The chances of him being arrested have never been higher,” said Celso Rocha de Barros, a political columnist and author.
Bolsonaro, who has already been banned from running for public office until 2030 for spreading false information about Brazil’s electoral system, vehemently denies the accusations. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, he lamented what he sees as an orchestrated campaign to ruin him. “They’re trying to humiliate me … paint me as the world’s worst criminal,” he said.
Despite the denial of his passport, Bolsonaro’s political legacy remains alive through his family. His son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a congressman, has emerged as a potential presidential candidate for the 2026 elections. Eduardo, who plans to represent his father at Trump’s inauguration, took to social media to defend him.
“[They are] using the justice system as a weapon to crush political opponents in court because they are afraid to face them at the polls,” Eduardo wrote, calling the legal scrutiny a case of “lawfare.”
