Flávio Bolsonaro seeks campaign boost with Trump meeting
· UPIMay 26 (UPI) -- Brazilian senator and presidential hopeful Flávio Bolsonaro traveled to Washington seeking a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump as his campaign faces mounting pressure following the release of audio recordings linking him to a banker now jailed on suspicion of leading a criminal organization involved in financial fraud.
The scandal has damaged Bolsonaro's credibility and weakened his standing in polls against Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Political analysts view the proposed meeting with Trump as an attempt to regain momentum ahead of Brazil's October presidential election.
According to multiple Brazilian media outlets, Bolsonaro arrived in the United States hoping to hold the meeting Tuesday. However, the official White House schedule released publicly did not include his name.
Because of the lack of official confirmation, Bolsonaro's allies have speculated that he could instead meet with U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
The trip follows the release of audio recordings alleging that Bolsonaro requested 134 million reais -- $26 million -- from banker Daniel Vorcaro, owner of the now-defunct Banco Master, to finance a film about his father, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
The controversy has further hurt Bolsonaro's image and negatively affected his polling numbers. Recent surveys now show Lula leading in both the first round and a potential runoff in October's election.
Brazilian outlet G1 Globo reported that Bolsonaro's team organized the U.S. trip partly to shift attention away from the financial scandal. The visit was reportedly coordinated by former federal lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flávio Bolsonaro's brother, together with officials linked to the Trump administration.
Political analyst Ranier Bragon told Brazilian broadcaster SBT News that the trip appears largely symbolic "because, as far as we know, there is nothing practical to discuss there."
According to Bragon, Bolsonaro is trying to divert attention from the negative impact of the scandal and project political strength. He noted that Lula was the last Brazilian leader to visit Trump, holding talks on bilateral relations between Brazil and the United States.
"The image that was conveyed, at least from Brazil's perspective, was that of a friendly meeting where several issues were discussed and Lula demonstrated his negotiating strength with Donald Trump," Bragon said.
If he manages to meet with Donald Trump, Flávio Bolsonaro plans to discuss issues such as freedom of speech on social media platforms in Brazil and the possible designation by the United States of Brazilian criminal factions, including the Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho, as terrorist organizations, according to Brazilian outlets CBN and Folha de S.Paulo.
According to the latest poll by Datafolha, revelations about Bolsonaro's close ties to banker Daniel Vorcaro, owner of Banco Master, have hurt his voting intentions.
In first-round simulations, support for the senator dropped from 35% to 31%, a decline of 4 percentage points. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is seeking reelection, polled between 38% and 40%. As a result, the gap between the two candidates widened from 3 percentage points to 9.
According to a medical report issued Monday by Sírio-Libanês Hospital in Brasilia, Lula, 80, began preventive superficial radiotherapy treatment after doctors diagnosed him with basal cell carcinoma, an early-stage form of skin cancer.
The report said the treatment consists of 15 short sessions over three weeks focused on the scalp area, where doctors successfully removed a skin lesion on April 24.
Despite the treatment, the medical team led by doctors Roberto Kalil Filho and Ana Helena Germoglio said Lula faces no health restrictions or changes to his daily routine.
The Brazilian president is expected to maintain his institutional schedule and political commitments ahead of October's election campaign, as the outpatient treatment is not expected to interfere with his daily responsibilities.