President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said, this Thursday afternoon (7), that he left “very satisfied” from the meeting he had earlier with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. “It was an important meeting for Brazil, it was an important meeting for the United States,” he said at a press conference at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington.
Lula stated that he left the meeting “very optimistic” and reported that Trump said he really liked Brazil. The PT member also commented on the photo released at the end of the meeting, in which the American appears smiling: “President Trump laughing is better than frowning.”
He also said that he had joked with Trump about the football World Cup, which will have the USA as one of the venues, saying he hoped that the country would not cancel the visas of the Brazilian team players. When asked about the American’s reaction, he replied: “He laughed, because now he will always laugh, he learned that laughing is very good.”
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Subjects covered
According to Lula and the ministers who participated in the meeting, throughout the approximately three hours of conversation, topics such as trade and tariffs, international cooperation in the fight against organized crime and critical minerals were discussed. The Brazilian president also said that he defended a reform of the UN Security Council.
Before Lula spoke, the ministers gave brief reports on the topics in their areas and were unanimous in evaluating the meeting very positively. “Friendly atmosphere”, “excellent meeting”, “very successful” and “extremely optimistic” were some of the expressions used to describe the meeting.
In relation to critical minerals, Lula reported having explained the current scenario in Brazil, including the approval, by the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday night (6), of a new law on the subject. The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, did not give details, but signaled that American investments should occur in Brazil in this area.
On the topic of tariffs, the Brazilian delegation presented the Americans with data showing that Brazil already has a deficit in trade with the USA and that, therefore, it would not make sense to overtax Brazilian products. According to Lula, there were differences and, therefore, the creation of a working group was proposed. Teams from both countries are expected to meet again in 30 days.
Regarding the fight against organized crime, Lula defended the creation of a group of countries to act in a coordinated manner. The Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan, said he had highlighted the importance of financially stifling criminal organizations.
Topics not discussed
Apart from defending the reform of the UN Security Council, Lula stated that he did not delve into issues involving other countries. “I came here especially to discuss Brazilian issues,” he said, adding that he is available to talk about any country with the US, if it is of interest to Washington.
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The Brazilian president also stated that he did not discuss Brazilian elections with Trump. “There is no possibility of me discussing this issue with any president of any country in the world,” he declared.
There was an expectation that the presidents would talk about Pix, seen with concern by the American financial system, but Lula said that the topic was not on the agenda: “He didn’t touch on the subject of Pix, so I didn’t touch it either”.
Proposals
Lula reported having handed three documents to Trump during the meeting. The first was a list of Brazilian authorities who are still under US sanctions, with visas revoked to enter the country. Among them are the Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, and the minister’s 10-year-old daughter.
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Although he did not discuss the war in Iran in depth, Lula said he handed over to Trump the 2010 nuclear weapons non-proliferation agreement, signed by Iran and forged by Brazil. According to the Brazilian, Trump stated that he would read the document tonight.
Finally, Lula delivered a summary of all Brazilian demands presented at the meeting. “I submitted in writing every issue I discussed with President Trump. In addition to the ministers speaking, I ended the meeting by handing him each of our proposals, written in English”, he explained.
