Conservative Senator Flavio Bolsonaro fled Brazil for the United States after his defeat in the presidential election, US media reported Tuesday, while the Trump administration announced it would grant him a visa.

The son of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has still not acknowledged his defeat in the second round against the outgoing left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was re-elected in a surprise victory on Sunday with 52% of the vote.

The U.S. government "will issue visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them to enter the United States," a State Department official said on condition of anonymity.

However, this official did not immediately confirm the presence of the 45-year-old senator on American soil.

On Monday, the defeated candidate had reported a court order compelling him to surrender his passports to the authorities and had promised to comply.

But he did not do so and his documents were cancelled on Tuesday, a police source told AFP, including the diplomatic passport he held as a member of parliament.

However, he has held Italian citizenship since 2023, as mentioned in a 2025 document from the Italian Parliament consulted by AFP.

Flavio Bolsonaro is the subject of several investigations.

One of them concerns suspicions of corruption and money laundering in the financing of a film about his father, who is currently under house arrest for attempted coup. He denies any wrongdoing.

- “Attempted intimidation” -

Eduardo Bolsonaro, brother of Flavio and former Brazilian congressman, is based in the United States, where he is in regular contact with the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Last week, he stated on an American podcast that he was in favor of his brother leaving Brazil if he did not win the elections, due to the investigations targeting him.

Donald Trump on Monday denounced "rigged" elections in Brazil, without evidence, while congratulatory messages to the re-elected president poured in from around the world, including from Latin American countries led by the right.

On Monday, Flavio Bolsonaro asserted that he had "never thought of leaving the country", denouncing an "attempt at intimidation".

He had also stated that he would lead the opposition to the Lula government, whose re-election his party ultimately recognized.

On the evening of his defeat, the candidate announced that he would request the annulment of the election due to alleged irregularities.

Bolsonaro's son was the favorite after finishing first in the first round.

He had promised that in the event of victory, one of his first actions would be to pardon his father.

Just like his son, Jair Bolsonaro had not recognized his electoral defeat four years ago against Lula.

He had gone to the United States on the eve of his rival's inauguration, before returning to Brazil after three months.

- Those around them were "surprised" -

Flavio Bolsonaro's entourage expressed astonishment at the announcement of his possible escape.

"We were surprised and we still don't know where he is," Senator Rogerio Marinho, coordinator of his campaign, told the press.

"I would understand if he left Brazil with his family," he added, specifying that he had not had contact with the former candidate since an exchange of messages at 8:00 a.m. (11:00 a.m. GMT).

On Tuesday, a Supreme Court judge also ordered the opening of an investigation into possible foreign funding of Senator Bolsonaro's campaign.

Magistrate Flavio Dino also mentioned other possible forms of interference, such as "manipulations" on social networks involving Meta.

During the campaign, Lula accused the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp of restricting the circulation of his content.

The American tech giant rejected these accusations, limiting itself to acknowledging "technical incidents".