December 12, 2025 / 8:13 PM EST / CBS/AP
The United States has removed Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes from its sanctions list, along with his wife and the Lex Institute she leads, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Friday. The delisting followed a weekend phone call between President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and was welcomed by Brazil’s government.
The Trump administration had sanctioned de Moraes in July, accusing him of authorizing arbitrary pretrial detentions and suppressing freedom of expression in Brazil amid his role in the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the time cited what he called “abuses of authority,” including secret orders compelling online platforms to ban accounts and alleged politically motivated detentions.
De Moraes drew international attention in August 2024 when he ordered Elon Musk’s X to be suspended in Brazil over alleged failures to curb misinformation; the ban was lifted two months later. Musk, a Trump ally, had been supporting Trump’s campaign.
A senior Trump administration official, speaking anonymously, said the sanctions were lifted after Brazil’s lower house passed an amnesty bill viewed by U.S. officials as a sign that “lawfare” conditions in Brazil were improving. Officials on both sides have described recent talks and meetings as steps toward repairing a previously tense relationship. Trump viewed Bolsonaro as an ally while Bolsonaro was in office.
Trump publicly criticized Bolsonaro’s treatment during the trial, calling it an “international disgrace” and posting a July letter to Lula demanding the proceedings stop. Bolsonaro was accused of plotting to remain in power after his 2022 election loss to Lula; he was convicted by a Supreme Court panel, sentenced to more than 27 years in prison, and began serving his sentence last month while seeking house arrest for health reasons. The expected unrest after his arrest did not materialize, though he remains politically influential ahead of next year’s elections.
Brazil’s government framed the lifting of sanctions as a political setback for Bolsonaro’s family. Gleisi Hoffmann, minister for institutional relations, said Lula had placed the repeal “on Donald Trump’s desk, in a dignifying and sovereign dialogue,” calling it “a big defeat for the family of Jair Bolsonaro.” Lula’s administration has accused Eduardo Bolsonaro, a congressman and the former president’s son, of misleading Trump about de Moraes and other court members. Eduardo Bolsonaro said he learned of the delisting with regret and vowed to continue advocating for his father; he has been living in the U.S. to lobby on Bolsonaro’s behalf.
The original sanctions were imposed under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which targets human rights abusers and corrupt officials. De Moraes called the sanctions “illegal and regrettable.”
Earlier this year, the Trump administration also imposed a 40% tariff on certain Brazilian products on top of an earlier 10% tariff, citing Brazil’s policies and Bolsonaro prosecutions as an economic emergency. Last month the White House said it was removing the 40% tariff on selected imports, including beef and coffee. The U.S. ran a $6.8 billion trade surplus with Brazil last year, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Trump and Lula began mending ties publicly at the U.N. General Assembly in September, held a private meeting in Malaysia in October, and have maintained subsequent phone contact. Lula has said he sought both tariff relief and the removal of sanctions on de Moraes and other Brazilian officials. Separately, Lula has urged Latin American countries to help prevent conflict in Venezuela as the U.S. pursues actions against vessels it alleges are linked to drug cartels.
