New York, US — Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro and a pre-candidate in Brazil’s upcoming elections, met on Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.
While Bolsonaro’s eldest son shared a photo on X alongside Trump in the Oval Office, the Republican president has not commented publicly on the meeting as of the time of publication, nor did the meeting appear on his official agenda.
On Wednesday, Flávio posted a photo with Christopher Landau, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, the country’s number-two diplomat.
Bolsonaro’s visits took place just two weeks after current president and Flávio’s political rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, visited Trump.
Shortly after his meeting with Trump in Washington, Flávio held a press conference in which he stated that he had asked the U.S. leader to designate the Comando Vermelho (CV) and the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC)—the country’s largest criminal factions—as “terrorist groups.”
“Today, I had the honor of being received by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, in the Oval Office of the White House. I arrived at 3:00 PM and left the premises at 4:40 PM. I want to state, first and foremost, that this meeting was not brokered by any shady businessman; it was arranged by the President of the United States himself,” Flávio told the press.
The presidential hopeful stated that the American leader received him with “enormous cordiality” and that the very first thing he did was ask about his father, the conditions of his imprisonment, and how the family “was coping with the situation.” In March, the elder Bolsonaro was granted house arrest for a coup attempt sentence and has been in and out of the hospital and in poor health.
“While Lula came to the White House to lobby on behalf of drug traffickers, I came to do exactly the opposite: to emphatically ask President Trump to designate the PCC and the Comando Vermelho as foreign terrorist organizations as soon as possible.”
Lula’s main opponent in the polls, Flávio inherited his father’s political mantle after the latter was convicted of attempting a coup d’état in September 2025—a conviction that bars the family patriarch from running for office.
On the other hand, Flávio’s visit to Trump also takes place amidst the political and financial scandal surrounding Banco Master, to which the heir to Brazil’s right-wing political dynasty may be linked.
Reports published by The Intercept Brasil have revealed close ties between Flávio and Daniel Vorcaro—the bank’s former CEO, who is currently incarcerated and under investigation for allegedly leading a criminal enterprise involved in financial fraud, money laundering, corruption, and asset manipulation.
Messages exchanged between the two, published by The Intercept Brasil, revealed that Vorcaro was one of the financiers of the film Dark Horse, about Flávio’s father. In an audio recording, Flávio is heard calling Vorcaro “brother” and demanding a portion of the R$ 134 million (US$ 26 million) investment.
The most recent polls have Lula beating Flávio in a run-off 47% to 43%.
Featured image: Flávio Bolsonaro met with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 26, 2026.
Image credit: Flávio Bolsonaro via X.
