SAO PAULO — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fired back at U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, acknowledging that Trump has every right to hold a personal preference when it comes to Brazilian politics, but drawing a firm line by telling the American president to “stay out” of Brazil’s upcoming elections.
Lula, who is planning to seek reelection in October’s vote, made his remarks shortly after Trump spoke to reporters, describing Brazil as having become “a little rough” and “dangerous politically.”
“They play pretty tough, but nobody plays tougher than the United States,” Trump told reporters.
The exchange represents the latest chapter in the complicated and often contentious relationship between the two world leaders, who were both present in Switzerland on Wednesday for the final day of the G7 summit.
Lula’s top rival heading into the October election is Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of Trump ally and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. The elder Bolsonaro is currently serving house arrest following a conviction last year for allegedly plotting a coup in the wake of the 2022 election.
Trump met with Senator Bolsonaro last month, along with his brother Eduardo Bolsonaro, a former lawmaker who currently resides in the United States. That meeting came just weeks after Trump had also sat down with Lula.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has been actively seeking international backing for his family, was found guilty on Tuesday by Brazil’s Supreme Court of attempting to solicit interference from the Trump administration in his father’s trial last year — a charge he denies.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department responded to the conviction, calling it part of a “pattern of persecution and lawfare by the Brazilian courts against their political opposition.”
The spokesperson went on to say that “political debates should be settled by democratic elections, not by convictions.”
