In Washington, the assessment is that the meeting should follow the White House’s current standard for high-level bilateral meetings
Sources heard by columnist Eliseu Caetano in the American capital and at Itamaraty indicate that the visit of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to Washington, where he is scheduled to meet with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, will be marked by a more direct and pragmatic format, without major state ceremonies.
In Washington, the assessment is that the meeting should follow the current White House pattern for high-level bilateral meetings: little protocol, closed agenda and absolute focus on concrete results. The trend, according to these sources, is that there will be no large public events, military parades or symbolic ceremonies, as has occurred in other recent visits, such as that of King Charles III, last week.
The logic in the American capital is clear: this meeting will be treated like work meetings, with less pomp and more political and economic negotiation.
And the agenda promises to be intense.
On the United States side, Donald Trump must adopt a tough and objective stance. According to interlocutors close to the White House, the main American interest is in access to strategic minerals, with emphasis on the so-called rare earths, considered essential for sectors such as defense, technology and semiconductors. In Washington, this issue is treated as a national security priority.
Trump is also expected to bring sensitive topics to the table in the political field, including discussions about the institutional environment and elections in Brazil, a subject that tends to be addressed within a broader context of bilateral relations, albeit diplomatically.
In the economic area, points such as trade barriersdigital regulation and greater opening of strategic sectors for American companies.
On the Brazilian side, sources in Itamaraty evaluate the visit as an opportunity for repositioning diplomatic in a more competitive global scenario, seeking to maintain an open dialogue with Washington without automatic alignment with United States priorities.
The relationship between Lula and Trump has already had moments of greater rapprochement. During multilateral meetings, especially at the UN General Assembly, Diplomats even reported a kind of initial “chemistry” between the two leaderswith a more fluid and less confrontational dialogue in public.
But this perception did not hold. In the following months, friction between Brazil and the United States reappeared on commercial, environmental and political issues, returning the relationship to a more pragmatic and, at times, tense level.
Now, with the visit confirmed, the assessment in Washington and Brasília is the same: it will be a low-ceremony, high-pressure meeting, with little space for symbolism and total focus on strategic interests on both sides.
*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Jovem Pan.
