President Donald Trump on Thursday held a private meeting with socialist President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the White House.
“Just concluded my meeting with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the very dynamic President of Brazil. We discussed many topics, including Trade and, specifically, Tariffs. The meeting went very well,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social after the encounter. “Our Representatives are scheduled to get together to discuss certain key elements. Additional meetings will be scheduled over the coming months, as necessary. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
President Trump received Lula at the White House close to noon (EST) before heading off to a closed-door meeting with the Brazilian president. The private meeting, details of which have not been publicly disclosed at press time, lasted roughly three hours. Both delegations reportedly shared a joint lunch after the encounter. Per Brazilian outlets, five ministers and the director-general of the Brazilian Federal Police accompanied Lula. UOL reported that, initially, a press conference would take place before the encounter but the schedule was reportedly modified at Lula’s request, according to information disclosed by Lécio Portela Delgado, the head of the Brazilian presidency’s Secretariat of Communication. No such press conference ultimately took place.
The request was made after Lula experienced “discomfort” during his previous encounter with Trump on the sidelines of the 47th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Lula reportedly argued that he considered it “best” to talk to the press after meeting with Trump and not before.
President Lula reportedly left the White House for the Brazilian embassy in Washington, where he is expected to speak to the press later on Thursday. According to Brazilian outlets, the Brazilian delegation did not disclose details of the sudden change in agenda.
Per UOL, each president was accompanied by five officials. Trump was joined by Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, while Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Finance Minister Dario Durigan Industry Minister Márcio Rosa, Mining Minister Alexandre Silveira, and Justice Minister Wellington Silva joined Lula.
Thursday’s meeting was initially disclosed by unnamed Brazilian sources who spoke with several local and international outlets this week before the White House confirmed the visit. At the time, the sources claimed that Lula intended to speak with Trump on tariffs, the fight against organized crime, and rare earth minerals. Lula’s official visit of the United States was initially planned to take place at some point during March, but was delayed due to the start of the war in Iran.
Hours before the meeting, Brazilian outlets reported that Lula and Trump held a “friendly” telephone conversation on Friday, May 1, that lasted about 40 minutes during which preparatory subjects for Thursday’s meeting were touched upon — mostly, talks on prospective cooperation between the U.S. and Brazil in terms of fight against organized crime and drug trafficking. According to Globonews, President Trump maintained a “friendly tone throughout” last week’s conversation and mentioned that he had researched the Brazilian president’s life and political career. Lula, for his part, reportedly stated that he wanted to address the interests of Brazil and the United States, including issues related to international conflicts and the role of the United Nations, to which Trump expressed to be interested in hearing Lula’s views on these matters.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.