Trump suggests that the election in Brazil is a test for the US in Latin America.

US President Donald Trump indicated that the presidential elections in Brazil are a "major test" for Washington's strategy of maintaining "prominence" in Latin America, as defined by the US National Security Strategy published in 2025. On social media, Trump shared an article by columnist John Gizzi, a White House correspondent for the conservative, pro-Trump publication Newsmax, titled "Trump Wins 8 in 7 Years in Latin America." According to a note from "Agência Brasil," the political columnist cites the election of the far-right candidate in Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, as another Trump victory within the "broad pro-Trump ideological realignment that is transforming the Western Hemisphere." The article also cites the 2026 elections in Peru, Honduras, Bolivia, and Chile, as well as older elections in El Salvador (2019), Argentina (2023), and Ecuador (2023), as Trump's "triumphs" in the region. "The pro-Trump trend began in 2019 with the election of Nayib Bukele in El Salvador and has steadily intensified since then," Gizzi wrote.

Remaining challenges

The article republished by Trump highlights, however, that the Republican administration still faces four major challenges in Latin America: Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Brazil, with Brazil being Trump's "next big test" in the region. "Attention now turns to Brazil, the largest nation in Latin America and the region's political powerhouse. The next presidential election could become the most important contest in the hemisphere," the article states. The author concludes that the US president is "making the Americas great again." "Should Brazil join the growing list of countries moving to the right, the political map of Latin America will be drastically different from what it was just a decade ago," the article says. The publication also notes that supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro are uniting around his son, Flávio Bolsonaro, in an attempt to oust the "leftist" president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Monroe Doctrine with Trump

In a document published in December 2025, the US government states that it will apply a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, in a kind of reinterpretation of the 19th-century doctrinal project that expanded US influence throughout the continent. Created in 1823, when the US emerged as a new world power, the Monroe Doctrine affirms that “America is for the Americans” and served, at the time, to challenge European powers in economic, military, and cultural influence in Latin America. Now, under Trump's second term, the US proposes to “establish or expand access in locations of strategic importance” and “do everything possible to expel foreign companies that build infrastructure in the region.” “After years of neglect, the United States will reaffirm and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American prominence in the Western Hemisphere and protect our homeland and our access to key regions throughout the region,” says the White House document.

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.