Overview

• Bolsonaro is standing trial before Brazil’s Supreme Court on allegations of plotting a coup, money laundering and orchestrating a criminal conspiracy over undeclared diamonds.
• Trump’s Truth Social post on July 7 characterized the prosecution as a "witch hunt," framed Bolsonaro as a champion of the people and urged the court to drop the charges.
• Workers’ Party leader Gleisi Hoffmann accused the US president of attempting to meddle in Brazil’s judicial affairs and insisted that foreign governments respect national sovereignty.
• During his testimony, Bolsonaro denied spearheading a coup but admitted he and senior aides explored deploying troops and curbing civil liberties before abandoning those plans.
• The trial caps a two-year probe into an election-denying movement that led to the January 2023 storming of federal buildings and followed an eight-year office ban imposed by Brazil’s electoral court.