Trump mentions Brazil and, alongside Milei, praises his conversation with Lula.
The US president reiterated that he had a "good conversation" with Lula and criticized BRICS in a meeting with the Argentine president.
247 - During a lunch in Washington alongside Argentine President Javier Mili, US President Donald Trump made references to Brazil and praised his relationship with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The meeting, according to... G1This occurred in the context of Milei's visit to the US in search of financial support to rescue the Argentine economy.
Trump stated that he decided to support Argentina because he believes the country's success could positively influence the entire region. "If Argentina does well, others will follow suit. And many others already are," he said. He then mentioned Brazil. "And Brazil, I had a very good conversation with the president. I met him at the United Nations before he went up to speak." The rapprochement between the two leaders occurred after a brief meeting at the UN General Assembly, held in September in New York.
Lula and Trump discussed tariffs in a recent conversation.
The relationship between Brazil and the United States returned to the center of the debate after the call on October 6th, when Lula and Trump spoke for about 30 minutes. According to the Brazilian government, Lula requested a review of the 50% tariffs applied to national products, in addition to questioning sanctions against Brazilian authorities linked to the trial of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
Trump, for his part, described the conversation as friendly. “We met, we like each other, and yes, we had a great conversation. We’re going to start doing business. (...) At some point I’m going [to Brazil], and he [Lula] is going to come here... We talked about it,” he declared. The US president also called Lula a “good man.”
Expectation of an in-person meeting.
The expectation is that a meeting between the two presidents should take place soon, with Malaysia emerging as one of the most likely locations for the meeting, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit at the end of October.
Bilateral relationship between frictions and approaches
Trump's statements contrast with the recent phase of diplomatic tensions. The US president had been criticizing Brazil for what he called a "witch hunt" against Bolsonaro, while Lula accused Washington of imposing "arbitrary sanctions" and acting as if it sought to be the "emperor of the world."
Trump attacks BRICS and defends the dollar.
Trump also reiterated his criticism of the BRICS group — comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — which, according to him, sought to weaken the dominance of the dollar.
“They are all leaving BRICS. It was an attack on the dollar. I said, ‘Do you want to play this game? Let’s put tariffs on all products entering the United States.’ They said, ‘We’re out of BRICS.’ And now nobody talks about it anymore,” he stated.
