Serbia and Brazil shifts isolate Trump abroad before US midterms

American voters will choose their Congressional representatives on Tuesday, November 3, but President Donald Trump is facing a shrinking circle of foreign allies before that date. Election results in Serbia and Brazil have left the Republican president without two key supporters who aligned with his political brand. In both nations, voters selected left-wing candidates over right-wing contenders who had close ties to the White House.

In Serbia, outgoing President Aleksandar Vucic failed to retain his position. Vucic resigned as president in early 2026 to run for prime minister, a role he previously held from 2014 to 2017. He had ruled Serbia with strict authority since 2017 and maintained a close personal relationship with Trump. The two men described themselves as like-minded, and Vucic’s son-in-law, Donald Trump Jr., visited Belgrade in late 2024 and again in 2026. Vucic was also scheduled to be a keynote speaker at the US Conservative Political Action Conference in Belgrade in November, though it is unclear if that event will proceed.

Vucic’s defeat removes a key European ally who shared Trump’s favorable view of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Vucic did not join EU sanctions against Russia after the war in Ukraine began, and Serbian state media portrayed Russia more positively than the European Union. Trump has also grown closer to Moscow, with special envoy Steve Witkoff calling Putin a humanitarian and Trump admitting he gets along better with Putin than with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In Brazil, incumbent President Luiz Inacio da Silva won re-election. The Trump camp had favored Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Flavio Bolsonaro is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering. He fled to Florida after the election, and the US State Department granted him and his family entry visas despite the pending legal case. Jair Bolsonaro has refused to concede defeat, claiming irregularities in the vote.

Trump echoed that sentiment on Monday, stating the Brazilian election looked rigged. He said, “It looked like another rigged election, frankly. Elections have to be indisputable, and it looked very bad to me.” Lawrence J. Haas, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, noted that Trump was a strong supporter of both Jair Bolsonaro and Flavio Bolsonaro. Haas said relations between Washington and Brasilia will remain cool because Trump does not feel warmly toward Lula.

The US president faces these foreign setbacks while battling domestic approval issues. Haas pointed out that Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president on the eve of a midterm election since Harry Truman in 1946. Americans are focused on affordability and oppose the US-Iran war that began in February. Haas believes these domestic issues, rather than foreign election results, will drive the November 3 vote.

In Israel, a separate election is still being counted. With over 96% of votes tallied, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc leads but has lost its majority. Coalition negotiations will be difficult. Netanyahu and Trump have been close allies since moving the US embassy to Jerusalem in 2018 and launching the war against Iran this year. If Netanyahu remains in power, the US-Israel relationship is likely to stay stable.