SAO PAULO (AP) — A year ago, Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro touted his family’s connection with U.S. President Donald Trump as a major political asset. This week, Bolsonaro is in Washington leaning into that relationship again in an attempt to shore up his weakening presidential bid after he received millions of dollars from a disgraced banker.
Bolsonaro arrived on Tuesday without a public agenda. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his rival in October’s elections, had a three-hour meeting with Trump on May 7. The 80-year-old leader seeks a fourth, nonconsecutive term.
The Trump administration has not commented publicly on the Bolsonaro scandal.
The son of former President Jair Bolsonaro has been under fire since May 13, when messages leaked by The Intercept from a federal police investigation showed he received about $12 million from Daniel Vorcaro, former owner of the shuttered Banco Master.
Vorcaro is accused of defrauding bank customers out of hundreds of millions of dollars after he convinced them to make shady investments. Brazil’s federal police estimate the bank’s total fraud at 12 billion reais ($2.3 billion).
Flávio Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing and asserts that Vorcaro’s money was used to produce a movie about his father’s life. The investigation continues.
Political opponents have been on the attack since the revelation.
“Anyone getting close to a criminal banker gives a bad sign," former Minas Gerais Gov. Romeu Zema, a Jair Bolsonaro supporter who is running for the presidency, said on Monday.
Bolsonaro’s campaign has been shaken as he searches for a running mate and tries to form party alliances. The latter is key for him to get more resources and free air time on TV and radio, which is determined by the number of seats that each party holds in the lower house.
Even before Bolsonaro’s connection to Vorcaro was public, he lacked support from many in the business community.
Former Goias Gov. Ronaldo Caiado and Renan Santos, also presidential hopefuls, have raised doubts about Bolsonaro, and some politicians argue that former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro should replace him as presidential candidate.
“Michelle would bring many voters back. She has a good name for herself,” former environment minister and lawmaker Ricardo Salles said in a recent podcast. “She is much softer and that could work.”
Michelle Bolsonaro lives with the former president in Brasilia, where he is under house arrest for his coup attempt conviction. She has remained silent about the link between the senator and the failed banker and about making a presidential run.
“That is none of my business. I have to take care of my husband,” she said last week.
Sen. Marcos Rogerio, one of Flávio Bolsonaro’s key allies in congress, said the presidential hopeful has been giving the necessary explanations for what happened between him and Vorcaro.
“Moments like this deserve our attention. He needs to make it all clear. But he has also argued in favor of a congressional inquiry on Banco Master. This thing will not bar his candidacy at all,” Rogério told journalists on Saturday. “We are not going to re-evaluate his bid or choose a different person. The senator’s candidacy is still standing.”
Political analyst Lula Guimaraes, who has worked for candidates across the political spectrum in Brazilian elections, said the revelations would have been deadly for Bolsonaro if they had come out shortly before the vote.
The police investigations could further hurt his chances, but voters might leave the issue aside when it matters, Guimaraes added.
“As of now, people in Brazil want to know who will win the next World Cup. They want to know whether Neymar will play or not. That alone will make this whole affair less visible for a month,” Guimaraes said. “I don’t think this alone will be deadly for Flávio Bolsonaro, but even the man himself said there’s more about him and Vorcaro to come out. He’d better buckle up.”
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, talks on the phone as he arrives for the swearing-in ceremony for justices Nunes Marques and Andre Mendonca as president and vice president of Brazil's Superior Electoral Court in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is ticking toward records Tuesday as it catches up with climbs for others around the world from the day before, when President Donald Trump said negotiations were “proceeding nicely” with Iran on ending their war.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% after trading resumed following Monday’s holiday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 186 points, or 0.4%, as of 1:28 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% higher. All three indexes are near all-time highs.
The indexes pared gains from earlier in the morning as fighting continued in the region, and the U.S. military said it carried out “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats placing mines. Markets have rallied in the past on hopes for a coming end to the war with Iran, only to see the conflict drag on.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 4% to $97.14, but that reclaimed only some of its 7.1% plunge from Monday. The price for a barrel of U.S crude oil, meanwhile, fell 2.7% to $94.01.
Oil prices have been at the center of the action for financial markets since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February. The ensuing war has closed the Strait of Hormuz to most oil tankers, keeping crude pent up in the Persian Gulf instead of flowing to customers worldwide. That in turn has driven up oil’s price and sent a wave of painful inflation around the world.
Hopes for a deal to improve the flow of oil helped lift stocks of companies with big fuel bills. United Airlines rose 5.1%, and cruise operator Carnival steamed 2.8% higher.
The lower oil prices also helped pull yields down in the U.S. bond market, which eased the pressure on Wall Street. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.51% from 4.56% late Friday.
It’s a respite following recent gains for yields in bond markets worldwide, which threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. High yields have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the artificial-intelligence data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.
Big technology stocks also continued their big runs. Micron Technology leaped 18.4% to top $880 and was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 after analysts at UBS led by Timothy Arcuri raised their 12-month price target for the stock to $1,625 from $535. They're forecasting continued strength in demand for computer memory, and Micron's stock has already tripled so far this year.
That helped offset a drop of 9.9% for AutoZone, which reported slightly weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit topped expectations. CEO Phil Daniele said performance for the retailer’s stores in Brazil and Mexico was below its plan.
Most big U.S. companies have been reporting both profit and revenue for the start of 2026 above what analysts expected. The strong performances have helped vault U.S. stocks to records, even with all the uncertainty around oil prices and the war with Iran.
U.S. households have been feeling discouraged about the economy because of accelerating inflation, and a report on Tuesday said consumer confidence edged downward in May, though the number was not as bad as economists expected. It followed a report on Friday that said sentiment among U.S. consumers hit its lowest level on record.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.5% as it caught up with other markets following its closure on Monday for a holiday.
London’s FTSE 100 added 0.2% even though British petroleum giant BP fell 4.5% there. BP ousted its chairman over what it called serious concerns related to “important governance standards, oversight and conduct.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2% from its all-time high set the day before.
AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
Specialist Glenn Carell, left, and trader Robert Charmak work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index, seen through the glass wall of an office building Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
