Brazil police raid former president Jair Bolsonaro’s home, headquarters
Raids come as Trump threatens Brazil with tariffs over Bolsonaro trial for seeking to overturn election loss.

Published On 18 Jul 202518 Jul 2025
Federal police have raided the home and headquarters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, with the country’s Supreme Court ordering him to wear an ankle monitor amid concerns he may flee the country.
Police in a statement on Friday said they had issued search warrants ordered by the country’s Supreme Court, but did not name Bolsonaro, who governed Latin America’s largest country from 2019 to 2022.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Brazil’s Supreme Court later confirmed the raid, quoting the country’s prosecutor general saying there was a “concrete possibility”of Bolsonaro fleeing the country amid his ongoing trial overs alleged efforts to overturn President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s election victory in January 2023.
The court said that Bolsonaro had been also ordered to wear an ankle bracelet, stop using social media and end contacts with any foreign officials. He was also barred from approaching foreign embassies or consulates in Brazil.
The Supreme Court said Brazilian police have accused Bolsonaro of working with his son Eduardo, a Brazilian lawmaker who has been lobbying in Washington, DC, of working with the administration of US President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Brazil.
The updates come after US President Donald Trump, whose supporters also sought to overturn his election loss in January 2021, threatened Brazil with 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian goods if Bolsonaro was not granted legal reprieve.
Responding to the latest actions, Bolsonaro’s lawyers, expressed “surprise and indignation” at what they called “severe precautionary measures imposed against him,” adding that Bolsonaro has so far complied with court orders.
In a Truth Social post last week, Trump claimed that Brazilian authorities have “done nothing but come after [Bolsonaro], day after day, night after night, month after month, year after year!”
Advertisement
“He is not guilty of anything, except having fought for THE PEOPLE,” wrote Trump, who himself faced four criminal indictments following his first term and repeatedly claims he has been the victim of a political “witch hunt”.
The statement came as Trump has continued to threaten reciprocal tariffs on dozens of trade partners, although the threat against Brazil has stood out for its particularly personal motive.
Speaking on Thursday, Lula said Trump’s tariff threat lacked “logic”.
“We cannot have President Trump forgetting that he was elected to govern the US, not to be the emperor of the world,” Lula said.
He added that Bolsonaro was not “being judged personally” by the country’s independent judiciary, but “being judged by the acts he tried to organise a coup d’etat”.