Rio de Janeiro — Lula Accuses Trump of Trying to ‘Colonise’ Brazil

A one-minute campaign advertisement released Thursday night by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's team accuses Donald Trump of trying to "colonise" Brazil and seize its natural resources through meddling in the country's Oct. 4 presidential election, according to The Guardian.

The spot, set to air on Brazilian television Friday, names Lula's far-right rival directly. The numbers around the vote — and the ad itself — tell most of the story.

What does the ad actually say?

The advertisement runs one minute. A female narrator delivers the campaign's central charge: "Flávio Bolsonaro is Trump's candidate and what Trump wants is to colonise Brazil, take our riches, steal our future and leave us in the dust," according to the Guardian's translation of the spot.

Lula amplified the message on X the same night, writing that if Bolsonaro wins, "Brazil will become a colony again," and accusing his opponent of wanting to "hand our natural resources over to the United States."

How many days are left until Brazilians vote?

Nine. The first round of voting falls on Oct. 4, 2026, with the Guardian reporting the race is underway with "just over a week to go" as of the ad's release on Sept. 24. A potential second round, should no candidate clear the 50% threshold outright, is set for Oct. 25 — three weeks after the first round.

By the numbers

• 1 minute: length of the campaign ad accusing Trump of election interference, per the Guardian.
• 9 days: gap between the ad's release and the Oct. 4 first-round vote.
• 21 days: gap between a potential first-round vote and the Oct. 25 runoff date.
• 50%+1: share of the vote a candidate needs on Oct. 4 to avoid a second round.

How close is the Lula-Bolsonaro race?

The Guardian describes Lula and Bolsonaro as "neck and neck in the polls" with the first round more than a week away. The report does not cite specific poll numbers or a named pollster, and the piece stops short of projecting a winner. That framing — a race too close to call this near the vote — is itself the data point driving the campaign's messaging strategy: an ad designed to reach undecided voters in the campaign's final stretch.

"Flávio Bolsonaro is Trump's candidate and what Trump wants is to colonise Brazil, take our riches, steal our future and leave us in the dust." — narration from Lula's campaign advertisement, released Sept. 24

What has the United States said in response?

The State Department has denied any interference. "Any insinuation of a 'ploy' to undermine a democratic nation's election is a baseless lie," the department said in a statement last month, according to the Guardian. That denial predates Thursday's ad by roughly four weeks, meaning the campaign spot arrives after the U.S. government had already gone on record rejecting the meddling claim once.

The dispute sits inside a wider pattern the Guardian's reporting flags: growing alarm in Brazil and abroad over the potential impact of alleged U.S. involvement on the October vote, though the article does not quantify that alarm beyond describing it as "growing."

What happens if neither candidate wins a majority Oct. 4?

Brazilian election rules, as laid out in the Guardian's report, send the race to a second round on Oct. 25 if no candidate secures more than half the vote in the first round. Given a race the Guardian characterizes as a toss-up, a runoff is a live possibility that would extend the campaign — and its dueling narratives about foreign influence — by three additional weeks.

A photograph accompanying the Guardian's report shows supporters of opposition candidate Flávio Bolsonaro marching earlier this month with an effigy of Trump holding a doll depicting Lula, a scene that underscores how thoroughly the Trump comparison has entered street-level campaigning on both sides, not just the ad war.

What to watch

• Oct. 4: First-round vote; watch whether either candidate clears the 50% threshold outright.
• Ad reach and airtime: Whether Lula's campaign expands the "colonise" messaging into additional TV markets before the first round.
• U.S. response: Whether the State Department issues a second denial specific to Thursday's ad, beyond last month's statement.
• Oct. 25: Runoff date, activated only if no majority winner emerges nine days from now.

For the full text of the campaign ad and additional reporting on the state department's denial, see the originating Guardian report.