STF Silence facing Trump’s attack and leaves institutional defense to Lula administration

Members of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) opted for silence in the face of Donald Trump’s latest statements. On a social network, the president of the United States said that Jair Bolsonaro suffers “persecution” and “hunting the witches.” The former Brazilian president is a defendant in a criminal prosecution in the Supreme for an attempted coup. In 2023, he was considered ineligible by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). Behind the scenes, court ministers evaluate that the institutional defense of the Supreme Court and the country is up to the federal government and diplomacy.

After Trump’s demonstration, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva posted, also on a social network, a message saying that Brazil is sovereign and does not accept any attempt of external interference. Trump’s attacks on the Supreme Court are not new. They intensified last year after Alexandre de Moraes withdrew the X, the social network of the billionaire Elon Musk, ally of the US President.

In May, the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, announced that the country would restrict the entry of “foreign officials and accomplices in the censorship of Americans,” in a message to Moraes. Rubio’s announcement was made the day after the STF’s decision to open an inquiry to investigate licensed deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), who lives in the United States. According to the Attorney General’s Office, the son of the former Brazilian president made political movements with the objective of knowing the Supreme.

Rubio’s statement was understood in the Supreme as an attack on the institution, not just one of its members. At the time, the ministers also opted for silence and left the case in the hands of the federal government.