Trump Rips Brazil Over Censorship, Bolsonaro ‘Witch Hunt’ — Then Says Country Will Face 50% Tariff

President Donald Trump took a sledgehammer to Brazil on Wednesday, calling out the leftist government for its censorship of U.S. social media and its “witch hunt” targeting former conservative president Jair Bolsonaro.

In a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — one of the many letters Trump has sent to countries around the world this week — the U.S. president deviated from his typical message announcing tariff rates to blast “Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans.”

“Dear Mr. President,” Trump began the letter. “I knew and dealt with former President Jair Bolsonaro, and respected him greatly, as did most other Leaders of Countries. The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace. This trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!”

Last year, Bolsonaro was charged alongside 36 other people for taking part in an alleged coup to overthrow the government after he lost the 2022 election to Lula. Brazilian prosecutors claim the plot included plans to commit political assassinations, but Bolsonaro has denied the allegations and argued that the charges against him are politically motivated. Bolsonaro has maintained the support of millions of Brazilians as he faces the indictment brought against him by Lula’s leftist government.

Trump has also defended Bolsonaro on numerous occasions, saying earlier this week that he will “be watching the WITCH HUNT of Jair Bolsonaro, his family, and thousands of his supporters, very closely.”

“The only Trial that should be happening is a Trial by the Voters of Brazil — It’s called an Election. LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE!” he added.

In his letter to Lula on Wednesday, Trump also slammed the government for going after American social media companies. Last year, the Brazilian Supreme Court upheld a nationwide ban on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X. The country’s Supreme Court took further action on the issue last month, ruling that social media platforms can be held liable for their users’ posts.

Trump wrote in the letter, “Due in part to Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans (as lately illustrated by the Brazilian Supreme Court, which has issued hundreds of SECRET AND UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders to U.S. Social Media platforms, threatening them with Millions of Dollars in Fines and Eviction from the Brazilian Social Media market), starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Brazil a Tariff of 50% on any and all Brazilian products sent into the United States, seperate from all Sectoral Tariffs.”

Trump has sent numerous letters to countries around the world this week, informing them of the tariffs they will pay come August 1. The 50% tariff rate on Brazil is the highest one that Trump has unveiled this week, a rate that Trump said “is necessary … to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime.”