Hasan Piker Says Donald Trump Is Meddling in Brazil's Election to Weaken Lula

Hasan Piker accused the Trump administration of meddling in Brazil's presidential election. In a recent episode, he went through a list of U.S. actions that he said were meant to weaken President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva before the Oct. 25 runoff.

The streamer was speaking after Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, finished first in Sunday's first round. Flávio Bolsonaro won 47.03 percent and Lula 45.16 percent. Neither candidate reached the 50 percent needed to win outright.

"I mean, this is basic interference by, uh, the American government," Piker said. He put the pressure in historical terms:

"This is the Trump version of the Monroe Doctrine. Uh, the American sphere of influence is on the American continent, right?" — Hasan Piker

The Monroe Doctrine dates from 1823, when President James Monroe warned European powers to stay out of the Western Hemisphere. Later presidents used it to justify U.S. intervention across Latin America. Piker argued that the administration is "definitely redoubling their efforts on maintaining a complete and firm grip of control over South American politics."

What the Record Shows on Piker's List

Piker read most of his list from a thread posted on social media. Several of the items are documented. This article does not examine the rest of the thread's claims, including the terrorist designation of Brazilian crime groups, a plan to send State Department officials to question Brazil's electoral system, and a São Paulo consulate roundtable with influencers.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on July 30, 2025 that imposed a 40 percent duty on Brazilian goods. The order cited the prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, including this one, on Feb. 20, 2026. On the same day as the tariff order, the Treasury Department sanctioned Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, accusing him of "politicized prosecutions—including against former President Jair Bolsonaro." Piker's list also said Washington was threatening new sanctions against Moraes, a claim that is unverified. The existing sanctions were lifted in December.

Tariff pressure did not end with the court ruling. The Section 301 case on Brazil's trade practices, which Piker's list tied to the PIX payment system, ended in July when the U.S. Trade Representative imposed a 25 percent tariff.

On Oct. 2, the U.S. embassy and consulates halted consular services, citing unspecified security concerns. Piker said Canada had followed suit, but the country that followed was Australia. Edinho Silva, president of Lula's Workers' Party, told NBC News the move was "one of Trump's ways of trying to influence Brazilian public opinion."

Brazil's attorney general, Jorge Messias, asked for an investigation into a planned $1 million in State Department funding. Al Jazeera reported that the money was meant for right-wing civil groups and for efforts in Brazil to counter what the U.S. called "lawfare and censorship." Piker's list described the recipients as "groups in Brazil that oppose judicial overreach and censorship by Brazil's Supreme court."

The 21 demands Piker described were a U.S. draft from October 2025, reported by the Brazilian outlet Metrópoles. It set conditions for tariff relief and included a call to let "political dissidents" run. The list's claim that Washington "threatened Brazil with military might" is not borne out by the documents and reporting cited here.

Timeline: U.S. Actions Toward Brazil

Polls Missed the Far Right, Guest Says

Piker's guest was David Adler of Progressive International, who was reporting from São Paulo. Adler said the result "looks really close, right? 47 to 45. But the polls had that in reverse." By Adler's account, polls had Lula near 48 percent and heading toward 50, with Flávio Bolsonaro at 42 or 43 percent.

Piker also said that "Donald Trump's tariffs regime was directed at Lula's administration and the decisions that they had made in favor of defending Brazilian democracy." Washington has defended its actions on different grounds. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer's office accused Brazil of "punishing U.S. technology companies for refusing to censor political speech."

What Happens Next

Adler predicted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his allies would "come out of their caves" before the runoff, and warned of "a lot of crazy shit" over the next 20 days.

Piker offered little hope that U.S. pressure would ease. "The only thing we can hope for is the incompetence of this administration," he said.