‘Surprising, he was a good man’: Trump on Bolsonaro’s 27-year jail term

Washington: US President Donald Trump has come out strongly in defence of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, after Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court sentenced him to more than 27 years in prison for plotting a coup.

“Jair Bolsonaro was an outstanding leader. Now, it's a terrible thing for Brazil,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. “I thought he was a good president of Brazil. And it's very surprising that that could happen.”

Trump also drew a parallel with his own legal battles in the US. “That's very much like they tried to do with me, but they didn't get away with it. But I can always say this: I knew him as the president of Brazil. He was a good man, and I don't see that happening.”

Bolsonaro was handed a sentence of 27 years and three months after four out of five justices on a panel voted to convict him of plotting a coup, attempting violent abolition of democratic rule, participating in an armed criminal organisation, aggravated property damage, and destruction of listed heritage sites. Justice Luiz Fux dissented.

The high-profile trial, which began on September 2, concluded this week. Bolsonaro, currently under house arrest, did not attend the final phase and has described the case as a “witch hunt” aimed at preventing him from running in the 2026 presidential election. He has already been disqualified from the race under separate rulings. The sentence could see the 70-year-old far-right figure spend the remainder of his life behind bars. The ruling has sparked intense debate worldwide: allies like Trump view it as a politically motivated attack on conservative leadership, while democracy advocates in Brazil hailed it as a landmark defence of constitutional order.