Jung, Lula, Trump and chemistry

Jung, using the metaphor of chemistry, concluded: “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” For the Swiss psychiatrist, founder of analytical psychology, the dynamic nature of human interactions makes it impossible for a meaningful encounter to leave people unchanged.

Jungian dialogue between people and substances suggests that individuals, as reactants, have their own compositions and characteristics and, by interacting, can trigger a reaction that alters something essential in each one. The transformation can be positive or challenging; the fact is that the result is never the permanence of the original state.

That's exactly how I interpret the meeting between Lula and Trump, in the early hours of this Sunday (Brasilia time), in Malaysia. The first practical effect should appear in how the Trump administration views Brazil and in what terms it seeks to maintain commercial and diplomatic relations with the Lula government. I don't foresee ideological shifts on either side, but rather an objectivity derived from frank conversation, guiding mature relations—a win-win situation, as the multilateral chessboard demands.

Who benefits from this? Initially, the productive sectors and consumers of both countries. The shadow of tariffs imposed by the US — and the consequent diversion of Brazilian trade to other markets — ceases to produce measurable damage.

Without a doubt, President Lula wins, once again presenting himself to the world as a leader capable of dialogue, a problem solver. He is growing on the global stage—and, inevitably, this has repercussions on his domestic image. He defended his people without bowing down, without bravado, without raising his voice. He did what he learned in union school: negotiate.

And who loses? The treacherous coup plotters lose. The Bolsonaro family—who, with Eduardo as their spearhead, tried to inflict losses on businesses, jobs, and the Brazilian economy to protect their own skin—emerges defeated. To escape prison, they wanted to bring the country to its knees—and they got a rude awakening. Joining them are those who tried to ride the wave of blind defense of MAGA: Tarcísio de Freitas, Ratinho Junior, Caiado, Zema, Ciro Nogueira, and some small fry from the Centrão.

Lula has just made an important move for 2026. I turn again to Jung: the Brazilian president demonstrates a trained intuition—a profound knowledge that makes him sensitive to subtle signs that many ignore, capable of capturing the “psychological atmosphere” of situations and people like few others. Therefore, the goal scored in the meeting with Trump is no accident: it is scenario reading, timing, and a well-conducted chemical reaction.