By Agencia Brasil
Copyright mercopress
Trump highlights “excellent chemistry” with Lula
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had a good “chemistry” with his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with whom he plans to hold talks next week. Trump described Lula as a “very nice man” after their brief meeting on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Trump spoke at the United Nations General Assembly shortly after President Lula. Traditionally, the Brazilian president gives the opening speech at the annual UN assemblies.
The US president said that the tariffs imposed on Brazil and other countries are a matter of defending his country’s sovereignty and security against those who “took advantage for decades” during previous administrations.
“I met the leader of Brazil when I came in here and spoke with him. We hugged. People didn’t believe it. We agreed that we should meet next week. It was about 20 seconds. We talked and agreed to talk next week,” said the US president.
“I like him, and he likes me. And I like doing business with people I like. When I don’t like a person, I don’t like them. But we had those 30 seconds there. It was very quick, but it was excellent chemistry. That was a good sign,” Trump further underlined.
In the US president’s assessment, Brazil imposed tariffs on the US “in a very unfair way,” which led his country to apply 50% tariffs on some Brazilian products in return. “I did this because, as president, I defend the sovereignty and rights of American citizens,” Trump argued.
According to Trump, Brazil is “doing badly” by charging “huge and unfair tariffs” on US products, as well as interfering with the rights and freedoms of American citizens and those of other countries “through censorship, repression, and the use of the judicial system as a weapon.”
Trump then hinted that Brazil could “do well” if it worked together with the US. “Without us, they will fail as others have failed,” he added.
Since July, the US government has been taxing Brazilian products and attempting to interfere in the decisions of the judiciary. The Brazilian government responded by stating that the United States has had a surplus with Brazil of more than US$400 billion over the past 15 years, which would not justify the imposition of new tariffs.
In Brasilia, the Planalto Palace confirmed that Trump and Lula would talk next week after a quick and friendly conversation when they met at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York on Tuesday. It is yet to be decided whether these talks will be in person or by telephone.
In his traditional opening speech at the UN General Assembly, shortly before Trump spoke, Lula did not mention the meeting or the possibility of a new conversation with the US president. Instead, he criticized the “arbitrary and unilateral sanctions” of the United States, stating that the world is witnessing a rise in authoritarianism.
“Multilateralism is at a new crossroads. The authority of this organization [the UN] is in check. We are witnessing the consolidation of international disorder marked by repeated concessions to the politics of power, attacks on sovereignty, and arbitrary sanctions. And unilateral interventions are becoming the rule,” Lula also said. (Source: Agencia Brasil)
