President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) embarked early this Wednesday afternoon (6) towards Washington, capital of the USA. The PT member will meet with President Donald Trump this Thursday (7). .
Washington’s main interest is strategic minerals, with emphasis on the so-called rare earthsessential for sectors such as defense, technology and semiconductors, issue treated by the USA as a national security priority. Trump must also bring politically sensitive issues to the table, such as the Brazilian elections taking place this year.
On the Itamaraty side, the meeting appears as an opportunity to return to mainly debate the trade tariffs imposed by Trumpdigital regulation and opening of strategic sectors. Following Lula’s recent history, the trip could still represent a new chance of diplomatic relocation on a global stagedialoguing with Washington, without positioning itself as automatically aligned with North American objectives.
The trip
A Lula’s arrival in the USA is scheduled for 8:10 pm (from Brasília) this Wednesday, at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, a state near Washington, DC
Despite arriving at night, the Brazilian’s presidential agenda does not include official commitments for the date. Meetings at the White House do not have an official timetable.but they should only happen this Thursday.
In addition to Lula, the Brazilian delegation includes:
- Ambassador Mauro Vieira, Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Minister of Justice and Public Security
- Dario Durigan, Minister of Finance
- Márcio Elias Rosa, Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services
- Alexandre Silveira, Minister of Mines and Energy
- Andrei Rodrigues, Director General of the Federal Police
Following the current White House pattern for high-level bilateral meetings, the with little protocol, closed agenda and absolute focus on concrete results. In this logic, the date should function as a clash between interests, with little exchange of pleasantries.
This will be the fifth conversation between the presidents in their terms. Until then, Lula and Trump met twice in personin September 2025 in New York and October of the same year in the capital of Malaysia. By telephone, the PT member and the Republican also exchanged words on two occasionsOctober and December 2025, both to discuss topics of bilateral interest. This will be the first meeting between the leaders in 2026.
