Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has urged his US counterpart Donald Trump to act with greater responsibility on the world stage, warning that Washington should not see itself as “the emperor of the world.”
Speaking to PBS News ahead of his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Lula said the United States must live up to its position as the world’s largest economy and military power by respecting sovereignty and avoiding interference in other nations’ internal affairs.
“I think President Trump needs to have the behavior of a head of state, of a statesman of the largest economy in the world, of the biggest military power in the world, the most technological country in the world,” Lula said through an interpreter. “A country with such greatness and such might has to have much more responsibility. What we do not accept is that any country in the world interferes in our democracy and our sovereignty.”
Lula also rejected Trump’s claims of unfair trade practices, pointing out that the US has enjoyed a $410 billion trade surplus with Brazil over the past 15 years. He stressed that Brazil’s justice system is independent and that neither the president nor foreign powers can interfere in judicial rulings, including the recent conviction of former president Jair Bolsonaro for attempting a coup.
In his General Assembly address, Lula criticized US tariffs and sanctions imposed in response to Bolsonaro’s trial, calling them “unilateral and arbitrary measures against our institutions and our economy.”
Trump, speaking immediately afterward, accused Brazil of “censorship, repression… judicial corruption and targeting of political critics” – but later struck a more conciliatory note recalling a brief encounter with Lula backstage.
“He seemed like a very nice man, actually. He liked me, I liked him… At least for about 39 seconds we had excellent chemistry. It’s a good sign,” Trump told the audience.
The US president also revealed that the two leaders planned to meet next week, while adding a sharp remark that “Brazil is doing poorly… Without us they will fail.”
Relations between Washington and Brasilia have soured since Trump accused Lula of carrying out a “witch hunt” against the “highly respected” Bolsonaro and imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports in August. Brazil’s government has vowed to defend its sovereignty and warned that further interference could damage more than two centuries of bilateral ties.
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