The president of the United States, Donald Trump, praised the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), after the three-hour meeting that the two leaders had at the White House this Thursday, 7th. To journalists, the Republican defined the meeting as “great” and described the PT member as a “good” and “intelligent” man.
“We had a great meeting with the president of Brazil. We had a lot of trade exchanges and we are going to increase them. We talked about tariffs, we talked about… they would like to have tariff relief, but we had a very good meeting. He (Lula) is a good man, an intelligent guy,” said Trump.
The American president had already said, earlier, in a post on the Truth Social network, that Lula was a dynamic person. “I just finished my meeting with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the dynamic president of Brazil. We discussed several issues, including trade and, specifically, tariffs. The meeting went very well”, he wrote shortly after the meeting.
Lula and Trump met this Thursday (7) at the White House, in a meeting that lasted around three hours. The conversation between the two leaders covered a series of topics, such as tariffs, organized crime, rare earths and the United States’ relations with Latin American countries.
“I leave here with the idea that we have taken an important step in consolidating the historic democratic relationship that Brazil has with the USA,” said Lula after the meeting.
Although no agreement was reached, Lula stated that he obtained a 30-day extension on the tariffs that the US wants to apply to Brazil. During this period, representatives from both countries must meet to negotiate.
Continues after advertising
“There is a difference between us that was made explicit at the meeting. I proposed 30 days for our companions to create a solution,” said Lula, who stated that he was “positive” regarding the issue.
The US had imposed 50% tariffs against Brazil – 10% applied to everyone and an additional 40% to Brazil only. The 40% fell after the Supreme Court’s decision, but could return if the country decides to reimpose the surcharges from July. In this meeting, Brazil was given a month’s respite to negotiate.
The meeting was also marked by cordiality. From the beginning, both presidents presented a diplomatic stance. Trump welcomed Lula on a red carpet and shook the Brazilian’s hand as soon as they met.
At the end, the PT member joked, in a friendly tone, that the Republican could not impose difficulties in the immigration sector on the Brazilian team players who will travel to the United States to compete in the World Cup.
“I told him: I hope you don’t come to cancel the Brazilian players’ visas. Please don’t do that, because we’re going to come here to win the World Cup”, said Lula, who even joked that he had made the US president smile: “President Trump laughing is better than him with an ugly face”.
