Last Updated on July 22, 2025 by ThePublic

Trump’s Defense of Bolsonaro Exposes His Authoritarian Soul

‘This is the new authoritarian playbook, wrap yourself in the flag, cry “persecution,” and rally your base while undermining the systems that keep democracy alive.’

Donald Trump’s threat to slap a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods isn’t about trade deficits or economic strategy, it’s a vengeful power play to shield Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s disgraced former president, from facing justice for alleged coup plots and rampant corruption. This isn’t policy. It’s a glimpse into the dark heart of Trump’s worldview: a toxic blend of loyalty to strongmen, contempt for democracy, and an unyielding obsession with power.

Bolsonaro’s Reckoning: A Threat to Trump’s Mirror Image

Jair Bolsonaro stands trial in Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court, charged with crimes that read like a dictator’s playbook:

• Orchestrating efforts to subvert the 2022 Brazilian election.
• Inciting the January 8, 2023, riots that stormed Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court, and Presidential Palace, a chilling echo of January 6 in the U.S.
• Abusing state resources for illegal surveillance on political enemies.
• Plotting a coup to cling to power, according to prosecutors.

Brazil’s response? Accountability. Its courts are doing what democratic institutions do: holding a leader to the rule of law. Yet Trump, rather than supporting justice, threatens to cripple Brazil’s economy with tariffs. Why? Because Bolsonaro isn’t just an ally, he’s a reflection of Trump himself.

A Brotherhood of Strongmen

Bolsonaro is Trump’s Latin American doppelgänger: a brash, divisive figure who ruled through fear, demonized minorities, vilified the press, dismissed science, fetishized guns, and draped it all in a veneer of religious zeal. Their shared playbook thrives on chaos, not governance.

Trump’s defense of Bolsonaro isn’t about Brazil’s trade policies, it’s about self-preservation. Bolsonaro’s trial feels like a warning shot: a former president, once untouchable, now facing the consequences of his actions. To Trump, this isn’t just a legal proceeding; it’s a personal affront. If Bolsonaro can fall, so can he.

By wielding tariffs as a weapon, Trump sends a clear message: loyalty to his global cadre of strongmen trumps sovereignty, democracy, or fairness. Allies are pawns. Institutions are targets. And the rule of law? A nuisance to be crushed.

The Authoritarian Playbook Goes Global

Trump’s tariff threat fits a pattern of fawning over autocrats while scorning democratic norms. His admiration for strongmen is well-documented:

• Vladimir Putin, whose iron grip on Russia Trump has praised.
• Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s illiberal darling, hosted at Mar-a-Lago.
• Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s democracy-eroding leader, lauded as a “friend.”
• Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s dictator, with whom Trump exchanged “love letters.”

These are not champions of freedom. They are architects of control, men who bend systems, silence dissent, and rewrite truth to suit their egos. In Bolsonaro, Trump sees the same defiance, the same refusal to bow to accountability. By threatening Brazil, he’s not just defending a friend, he’s fortifying a global axis of authoritarianism.

What Trump’s Tantrum Reveals

This tariff gambit exposes the core of Trump’s character:

• Democracy is disposable. To Trump, a president facing justice isn’t accountability, it’s betrayal. Courts daring to judge a leader? A witch hunt.
• Loyalty is everything. Bolsonaro was “his guy,” a fellow traveler in the cult of personality. Trump’s tariffs punish Brazil’s people, not its elites, but collateral damage means nothing when loyalty is at stake.
• Power over principle. The average Brazilian, already grappling with economic challenges, will bear the brunt of Trump’s tariffs. But their suffering is irrelevant to a man who sees governance as a zero-sum game.
• A mirror of guilt. Trump’s rage isn’t just about Bolsonaro’s fate, it’s about his own. If a strongman can be prosecuted, what does that mean for a former U.S. president with his own legal battles looming?

Trump isn’t defending Bolsonaro’s innocence. He’s defending the idea that men like them should be above the law.

The Rise of a New Authoritarian Network

This isn’t just about one tariff or one trial. It’s a signal of something far more sinister: a growing network of leaders who reject the basic tenets of democracy. We’re watching the threads of a transnational authoritarian network emerge, one where elections are only valid when your side wins, where courts are “corrupt” when they dare to hold leaders accountable, and where truth is whatever you shout the loudest. In their world, elections are only legitimate when they win. Courts are only valid when they obey. Truth is whatever they decree.

Trump’s threats against Brazil are a test case. If he can bully a sovereign nation into backing off its own judicial process, what’s next? A world where tariffs, sanctions, or worse are weaponized to protect the powerful, while citizens pay the price?

This is the new authoritarian playbook, wrap yourself in the flag, cry “persecution,” and rally your base while undermining the systems that keep democracy alive.

The Fight for Democracy’s Soul

Trump’s defense of Bolsonaro isn’t about trade, or even loyalty, it’s about impunity. It’s a middle finger to the idea that no one is above the law. It’s a warning to democracies everywhere: cross a strongman, and face the consequences.

But Brazil’s courts are holding firm, and that’s a lesson for the world. Let justice run its course. Let tyrants face their reckoning. No tariff, no threat, no tantrum can stop the slow, steady march of accountability.

The fight for democracy isn’t just global, it’s existential. And when men like Trump and Bolsonaro fall, they don’t take the world down with them. They remind us what we’re fighting for, a world where power answers to truth, not the other way around!

References

• “Brazil’s Supreme Court Upholds Bolsonaro’s Trial for 2022 Election Interference.” Reuters, June 15, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-supreme-court-bolsonaro-trial-2022-election-2025-06-15/
• “Trump Threatens 50% Tariff on Brazilian Goods Over Bolsonaro Prosecution.” The New York Times, July 2, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/world/americas/trump-brazil-tariff-bolsonaro.html
• “Bolsonaro’s Role in January 8, 2023, Brazil Riots: What We Know.” BBC News, January 10, 2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-58213489
• “Trump’s History of Praising Authoritarian Leaders.” The Washington Post, April 20, 2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/20/trump-authoritarian-leaders/
• “Brazil’s Economic Outlook Under Tariff Threats.” Bloomberg, July 5, 2025. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-05/brazil-economy-tariff-threats-trump