“They need us much more than we need them. In fact, we don’t need them, and the whole world needs us,” he said
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said this Monday (20) that his country “does not need” Brazil and Latin America.
“They need us much more than we need them. In fact, we don’t need them, and the whole world needs us,” Trump said during a ceremony where he signed decrees on his first day of the new term.
The Republican made the statement when answering a question from Globonews journalist Raquel Krähenbühl, who followed the ceremony from inside the Oval Office of the White House. The journalist asked if Trump intended to respond to the peace proposal for the Ukraine War drawn up by China and Brazil, to which Trump stated that he was unaware of the initiative.
“I think it’s great, I’m ready to discuss [propostas de paz]. Is Brazil involved in this? I did not know. Are you Brazilian?” Trump asked the reporter. Next, the journalist questions the president about the relationship with Brazil and Latin America. “It’s great. They need us much more than we need them.”
Trump promised to erect tariff barriers against a series of countries around the world, including Brazil – which the Republican classified, before taking office, as a nation that “charged too much” and promised reciprocal treatment.
This Monday, Trump once again stated that he will impose tariffs on products imported from Mexico and Canada, now with a deadline and dimension: they would be 25% from February. He also threatened Europe and China, but did not set deadlines for adopting protectionist measures against both.
Also this Monday, the new American president signed a series of controversial decrees that toughen the inspection of migrants, encourage the exploration of fossil fuels and determine the end of actions related to diversity. Many of them reverse measures implemented by their predecessor, Joe Biden.
The first orders were signed in front of thousands of supporters at the Capital One Arena in Washington. There, the president ordered the nation’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the revocation of 78 executive actions implemented by Biden. Afterwards, the Republican left for the White House, where he signed most of the documents.
Brazilian diplomacy expects pragmatism from the Trump administration in the Brazil-USA relationship. Members of the Lula government understand that Brazil will not be a priority for the republican even in matters on the continent, where Cuba, Venezuela and the Panama Canal stand out in speeches by the president and his assistants.
The main names of the Trump administration for the continent are the new American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, of Cuban origin and unanimously approved for the position in the Senate (Rubio had been a senator since 2011), and the envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver- Carone.
Brazilian diplomatic interlocutors particularly see Claver-Carone, former president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as someone who will not take an aggressive approach to tariffs and diplomatic pressure against Brazil. On the contrary, its actions are expected to expand investments and partnerships to counter China’s presence in the country and on the continent.
