The president (PT) said he had asked the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to withdraw retaliations such as the suspension of visas on the passports of other Brazilian ministers, after speaking to the minister of the (Supreme Federal Court).
“I sent him a message saying that he needs to release all my ministers that he put in this law that punishes people from another country. And I told him that it is important to remember that my ministers are being punished because they complied with the Constitution”, he declared in an interview with SBT News.
The interview, carried out on Friday (12), hours after the United States announced the removal of Moraes from the sanctioned list, was aired this Monday (15).
“I was happy when I received the news that he took away Alexandre’s. And he’s going to take away the others, because I’m going to keep insisting on him”, he said.
Among ministers who became ministers are Fernando Haddad (Finance), Ricardo Lewandowski (Justice) and Alexandre Padilha (Health). Visas were temporarily reinstated for authorities to attend official international events.
In his speech, Lula refers to thanking the removal of sanctions shortly after the announcement. Moraes was on the list of individuals sanctioned based on legislation applied to people who have committed serious violations of human rights, including dictators.
The decision to use it for a Brazilian authority had been unprecedented. The US applied the same sanction to members of Venezuela’s highest courts.
According to Planalto Palace assistants, in the phone call made between the two presidents last week, Lula had spoken to Trump about the importance of removing the sanction from the ministers. Until then, there was no confirmation that the American would withdraw the measure.
On the night of the interview, part of the , Lula also met with Moraes, who thanked in a speech the president’s contribution to the reversal of the US decision. The president’s official account published a photo in which the two appear hugging former football player Ronaldo Fenômeno.
Still in the interview, Lula defended the autonomy of the Supreme Court, when commenting on minister Flávio Dino’s decision to authorize a , which targeted an irregular scheme relating to parliamentary amendments.
The PT member was questioned about his influence on decisions made by Supreme Court ministers appointed by him, as in the case of Dino.
“Almost all the STF ministers were appointed by me. If I had interference in the Supreme Court, would I be in prison for 580 days? The truth is that the Supreme Court is totally independent, autonomous and it is good that it is that way. The president does not and does not want to have interference over the votes of the supreme court ministers, just as I do not want them to interfere in the things I do”, he said.
“If there is an investigation, a complaint, if this complaint is accumulated with a lot of evidence and the minister takes the decision to order a search and seizure, well, it is a problem that only concerns the minister, the President of the Republic cannot even give an opinion on this. People forget that they have already searched and seized my house”, he added.
Still talking about the autonomy of the Powers, Lula said he believes that his nominee for the STF, Jorge Messias, will be approved by the Senate. The PT member also reinforced the tone of victory in relation to the 2026 presidential elections. “The only certainty I have is that we will win the elections due to the services provided to the Brazilian people.”
“I believe that he will be the minister of the supreme court approved by the senate. I am working for that and the Messiah is working for that. And I did not nominate just anyone, I nominated a very competent lawyer, an extraordinary attorney general of the Union, who has demonstrated over time seriousness and serenity in the way of advocating and defending the Brazilian State in a way few have defended. Therefore, he deserves to be there.”
Moraes had been punished by the Trump administration on July 30. At the time, the minister was accused by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, of “serious human rights abuses” due to his role as a court magistrate.
