Donald Trump loses allies after elections in Serbia and Brazil

While the United States prepares for midterm elections on November 3, recent election results in Serbia and Brazil have dealt a blow to President Donald Trump's international alliances. In Serbia, the right-wing-conservative party lost to the left-wing Student List, ending the presidency of Aleksandar Vucic, a key European ally who had maintained close ties with Trump. In Brazil, incumbent president Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva won re-election, defeating Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro and a candidate favored by Trump's camp.

Trump's reaction to Bolsonaro's defeat

Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the Brazilian election results, declaring it looked 'rigged' and claiming it appeared 'very bad' to him. This echoes his own unfounded claims about the 2020 US election. Flavio Bolsonaro, who lost the election and is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering, has fled to Florida where he and his family were granted entry visas by the US State Department despite pending legal action in Brazil.

Vucic's ties to Trump and Putin

Aleksandar Vucic had ruled Serbia with an iron fist since 2017 and maintained a close relationship with Trump, who described them as like-minded. Trump's eldest son, Donald Jr., visited Vucic in Belgrade before the 2024 US presidential elections. The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), connected with Trump's MAGA movement, had planned a meeting in Belgrade with Vucic as a keynote speaker, though it's unclear if this will still proceed.

Like Trump, Vucic maintained positive relations with Russian president Vladimir Putin, refusing to join EU sanctions against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Belgrade continued purchasing Russian raw materials, and Serbian state media under Vucic presented a more favorable view of Russia than of the EU.