Trump defends global allies against "witch hunts"
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Trump with Jair Bolsonaro at the White House in 2019. Photo: Jim Lo Scalzo-Pool/Getty Images
President Trump's criminal trials are behind him, but he's now crying "witch hunt" on behalf of ideological allies overseas.
Why it matters: Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Brazil — set to go into effect Aug. 1 — in part because of the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro for his efforts to overturn his loss in 2022, charges that mirror those Trump himself faced. That's an extraordinary intervention in a friendly country's political and judicial processes, with tens of billions in trade at stake.
- It's also not the first time Trump has weighed in on judicial proceedings against right-wing politicians overseas, or claimed political and judicial elites abroad are using the same "playbook" deployed against him.
Last month, he decried the "INSANITY" of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu having to juggle standing trial for alleged corruption with handling conflicts with Iran and Hamas.
- "It is a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT, very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure," Trump wrote of Netanyahu's trial, which involves allegations he gave political favors in exchange for personal gifts or positive news coverage that Netanyahu denies.
- Trump's Truth Social post about Netanyahu's trial included an implicit threat: "The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this."
In April, he slammed French far-right leader Marine Le Pen's conviction on embezzlement charges as politically motivated "Lawfare."
- "It is the same 'playbook' that was used against me by a group of Lunatics and Losers," Trump wrote.
- Le Pen and other members of her party were convicted of misusing European Parliament funds, something Trump dismissed as a "bookkeeping error."
- She was banned from running for office for five years, knocking her out of the next presidential election unless she successfully appeals.
What they're saying: Bolsonaro, Netanyahu and Le Pen have all denied the charges against them and echoed Trump's language by claiming they are the victims of witch hunts.
State of play: Brazil now faces far higher tariffs than most other countries targeted by Trump, even though the U.S. has a trade surplus with the country.
- As Trump explained in a letter to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in 2022 (after himself being jailed for a corruption conviction that was later annulled), that was due in part to the prosecution of Bolsonaro.
- "Brazil is a sovereign country with independent institutions that will not accept being taken for granted by anyone," Lula responded in a statement of his own, vowing to retaliate in kind to any U.S. sanctions.
The intrigue: Trump's sympathy for fellow politicians on trial seems only to extend to fellow right-wingers.
- For example, Argentina's leftist former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has also claimed her corruption conviction was the result of a witch hunt.
- After taking office, the Trump administration cited that conviction to sanction her.
