TRUMP SAYS DEFEATED BRAZILIAN CANDIDATE FLAVIO BOLSONARO CAN STAY IN THE U.S. INDEFINITELY

President Donald Trump said on Saturday evening that defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro can stay in the United States indefinitely, Reuters reported.

Bolsonaro, a senator, left Brazil for the United States days after the country's presidential runoff, after defying a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports. Brazil's Federal Police have since cancelled them.

The runoff was won by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who took a historic fourth term, while Bolsonaro has refused to concede and vowed a legal fight.

Trump's statement gives the defeated candidate an open-ended American refuge at a moment when Brazil's courts and its new government are still contesting the aftermath of the vote.

It also deepens the diplomatic tangle between Washington and Brasilia, with a defeated candidate sheltering in the United States while his home country's legal process continues.