U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spoke for around 30 minutes by telephone on Oct. 6, Monday morning, the first discussion of any substance between the Presidents of the United States and Brazil since Trump began his second term on January 20, 2025. The two had first greeted each other when they crossed paths at the UN General Assembly. The accounts posted personally by both Presidents after today’s discussion agreed that each was happy with the call, which opened the door for a longer discussion in person.
President Trump reported on Truth Social that he “had a very good telephone call with President Lula, of Brazil. We discussed many things, but it was mostly focused on the Economy, and Trade, between our two Countries. We will be having further discussions, and will get together in the not too distant future, both in Brazil and the United States. I enjoyed the call—Our Countries will do very well together!”
For his part, President Lula reported that President Trump had called him, and both recalled their “good chemistry” when they had run into each other at the UN. “I consider this direct contact as an opportunity to restore the 201 years of friendly relations between the two largest democracies in the West,” he wrote.
Lula reported that he had reminded Trump that “Brazil is one of the three G20 countries with which the United States maintains a surplus in the balance of goods and services,” and requested that both the 40% surtax imposed on Brazilian products and the sanctions imposed on Brazilian authorities be lifted. (A Supreme Court judge and the Health Minister are among the Brazilian officials sanctioned by the Trump administration.) Trump designated Secretary of State Marco Rubio to follow up on these negotiations, which will be carried out with Brazil’s Vice President and Foreign and Finance Ministers, according to Lula.
“We agreed to meet in person soon,” Lula wrote, adding that he had suggested they meet at the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia (scheduled for Oct. 26-28), but also reiterated his invitation to Trump to participate in COP30 in Belém, Brazil, and offered to travel to the United States.
With the ice broken, the two Presidents exchanged phone numbers to establish a direct line of communication.
The lobbyists for former President Jair Bolsonaro and family in both the U.S. and Brazil, who have done everything in their power to get the U.S. to break relations with the Lula government will not be pleased, but the other leaders of the BRICS nations will welcome this news.
