Trump says he would approve of Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro coming to US after loss in Brazilian election

US President Donald Trump said early Wednesday that he would approve defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro coming to the United States, while continuing to criticize the country's presidential election.

"Would I approve them? Yeah, I would approve it. I would think it would be okay with me," Trump told reporters after returning from campaign rallies in Texas ahead of next week's US midterm elections.

He described Sunday's Brazilian election, which President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won by a margin of over 4 million votes, as "very strange," but said he had not endorsed either candidate.

"I didn't endorse in Brazil. I thought I'd stay out of that one," he said, adding that the election outcome was acceptable but the process was "terrible."

Asked about Bolsonaro's whereabouts, Trump said: "I heard he was in Argentina. I don't know where he is."

His remarks came after a senior State Department official confirmed to Anadolu on Tuesday that Washington would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family.

Citing family allies, Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that Bolsonaro had arrived in Miami, Florida, where he was welcomed by his brother Eduardo, who allegedly helped coordinate his departure with US authorities.

Bolsonaro reportedly left Brazil despite a judicial travel ban imposed Monday by a Supreme Federal Court justice, a day after he lost Sunday's presidential runoff to Lula.

Brazilian Federal Police canceled his regular and diplomatic passports Tuesday after he failed to comply with an order to surrender them.

The restrictions stem from an investigation into suspected money laundering and currency evasion involving financial transactions linked to an associate of Bolsonaro.

The senator, who denies wrongdoing, insisted Monday that he had no intention of leaving the country.

Brazilian police said Tuesday they had found no record of Bolsonaro leaving through an official immigration checkpoint, while Argentine immigration authorities said they had no record of him entering Argentina.