Trump says Flávio Bolsonaro can stay in the US "as long as he wants"; Rubio says Washington "didn't facilitate" his arrival

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday 31 October that the Trump administration did not help Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil’s 25 October presidential run-off to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, travel to the United States.

“We didn’t facilitate anything,” Rubio told reporters in Atlanta, Georgia, at the end of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, according to Al Jazeera, citing AFP and AP. “We had word that he had arrived in the United States. He had previously held a visa, and the president made a decision to allow him to enter the country.” He said the US government was not “involved directly in any of the moves that were made”.

Speaking to reporters at his Florida residence on the same day, President Donald Trump said: “I think he got treated very shabbily, very shabbily, so he can stay here as long as he wants.”

Bolsonaro arrived in Miami on Wednesday 28 October, a day after the State Department said he and his family would be granted US visas, Al Jazeera reported. Reuters has reported that he was admitted under humanitarian parole, a status that usually lasts one year. Al Jazeera reported that some US media outlets said his journey via Argentina and Ecuador was partly arranged with the help of White House official Jason Miller.

Bolsonaro is under investigation in Brazil for alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion, and had been ordered to surrender his passport because police considered him a flight risk. He has not conceded the election and has called the result fraudulent without providing evidence. He has said he left Brazil because he was a victim of “persecution”.

Rubio said he met Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira in Atlanta on Friday and Saturday.

Earlier: Trump approved Flávio Bolsonaro’s entry to the US after his Brazil election defeat, US reports say.