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President Donald Trump said on Saturday evening that defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro can stay in the United States indefinitely.<\/strong><\/p>\n The comments, made to reporters during a Halloween party at Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, suggest that relations between the Western Hemisphere\u2019s two largest democracies may remain strained \u200bfor some time, even as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Brazil\u2019s top diplomat earlier in the \u200bday.<\/p>\n \u201cHe can stay here as long as he wants,\u201d Trump said of Bolsonaro, who left Brazil \u2060after losing the election to leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, despite leading in most opinion polls. \u201cIn my opinion, the \u200belection was a disgrace.\u201d<\/p>\n The Brazilian embassy in Washington did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n Outside observers described the election as \u200bfree and fair. Bolsonaro\u2019s decision to go to the US followed a ruling by a Brazilian Supreme Court justice to revoke his passport shortly after his loss, as the candidate faces a pair of federal money-laundering probes in Brazil and police there considered him a flight risk.<\/p>\n He was admitted to \u200bthe United States under humanitarian parole, Reuters has previously reported, a status that typically only lasts for one year.<\/p>\n Rubio had \u200bsaid earlier on Saturday that he spoke with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira at a Group of 20 meeting in Atlanta, and that they \u200cwould see \u2060each other again in a few weeks.<\/p>\n In comments that had pointed to a potential rapprochement, Rubio told journalists that he and Vieira were expected to see each other again in France at a G7 foreign ministers\u2019 summit that will take place next month. Brazil is expected to attend the meeting as an observer, he noted.<\/p>\n A US official and a person familiar with the \u200bmatter have told Reuters that Trump \u200bhas no current plans \u2060to support the political ambitions of Bolsonaro \u2014 who has described himself as Brazil\u2019s rightful leader \u2014 despite allowing the Brazilian politician into the US. Trump on Saturday said he has no plans to meet \u200bwith Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n Rubio said on Saturday that the US government \u201cwas not involved directly in any of the \u200bmoves\u201d that led \u2060to Bolsonaro\u2019s departure from Brazil earlier this week. However, Reuters and several other media outlets have reported that Jason Miller, a White House official, helped arrange Bolsonaro\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n Bolsonaro\u2019s father, far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, is imprisoned in Brazil for plotting a coup after \u2060losing his \u200bown re-election bid in 2022. Lula himself spent 17 months in jail in \u200b2018 and 2019 on corruption charges that were later annulled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n