Brazil court orders raids on ex-president Bolsonaro for colluding with Trump

Bolsonaro has also been ordered to wear an ankle bracelet, stop using social media and cease communications with his son

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Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro speaks at the Federal Senate in Brasilia on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:37pm, 18 Jul 2025Updated: 11:30pm, 18 Jul 2025

Brazil’s Supreme Court issued search warrants and restraining orders against former president Jair Bolsonaro on Friday, banning him from contacting foreign officials for allegedly courting the interference of US President Donald Trump.

Federal police raided Bolsonaro’s home and he was ordered to wear an ankle monitor, adding the legal pressure that Trump has tried to relieve with a steep tariff on Brazilian goods.

The court’s crackdown on Bolsonaro added to signs that Trump’s tactics could backfire in Brazil, compounding trouble for his ideological ally and rallying public support behind a defiant leftist government.

Bolsonaro was also banned from contacting foreign officials, using social media and approaching embassies, according to the decision issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who cited a “concrete possibility” of him fleeing the country.

He added that Bolsonaro had asked the “head of state of a foreign nation” to interfere in the Brazilian courts, which he characterised as an attack on national sovereignty.

Protesters in São Paulo, Brazil, demand the arrest of former president Jair Bolsonaro and oppose Trump’s decision to investigate digital trade and electronic payment services in Brazil. Photo: Reuters

Bolsonaro is on trial before Brazil’s Supreme Court on charges of plotting a coup to stop his rival, President President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023.

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