Trump said in his remarks that he plans to meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva next week amid tensions after Trump levied 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports in response to the conviction of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for plotting a coup to maintain power.
The president said he and Lula “embraced” when Trump was walking onto the stage and the Brazilian leader was walking out.
“We didn’t have much time to talk, like about 20 seconds,” Trump said, adding, “We had a good talk, and we agreed to meet next week, if that’s of interest.
“But he seemed like a very nice man — actually, he liked me. I liked him,” Trump said, adding, “We had excellent chemistry. It’s a good sign.”
Trump was allies with Bolsonaro, Lula’s predecessor, and has called Bolsonaro’s conviction a “witch hunt.” In his speech, Trump said that Brazil “is doing poorly” economically and will only do well “when they’re working with us.”
“Brazil now faces major tariffs in response to its unprecedented efforts to interfere in the rights and freedoms of our American citizens and others with censorship, repression, weaponization, judicial corruption and targeting of political critics in the United States,” Trump said.
