Socialist President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, May 7, Brazilian government sources claimed to several outlets on Monday.
The unidentified government sources claimed to various outlets — including Brazil’s UOL, O Globo, and Globonews, as well as Reuters, and the BBC — that Lula will travel to the United States on Wednesday meet with Trump at the White House on Thursday morning. At press time, there is no official public confirmation on Lula’s reported travel from either the White House or the Planalto presidential palace.
According to O Globo, the reported meeting was agreed upon between Lula and Trump in a phone call last week that was not publicly disclosed by ether government. A prospective Lula visit to the White House was first discussed between both heads of state during a January phone call during which the Brazilian president expressed his intention to hold an “eye-to-eye” meeting with Trump. At the time, the visit was slated to take place at some point during March after Lula had finished visiting India and South Korea. That encounter, however, was postponed following the start of the war in Iran in late February.
Per Globonews, the Brazilian president seeks to reduce the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Brazilian goods and discuss mutual interests in the joint fight against organized crime and money laundering. CNN Brasil noted that discussions on rare earth minerals would also be part of the talks.
At the same time, the socialist Brazilian government is reportedly working towards preventing the United States from designating the highly dangerous Brazilian gangs Comando Vermelho (“Red Command”) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (“First Capital Command”, or PCC) foreign terrorist organizations. Brazilian Finance Minister Dario Durigan reportedly argued in April that he does not consider the gangs to be “terrorist organizations” and that such U.S. designation could potentially translate to American sanctions on Brazilian financial institutions that are “indirectly” related to both criminal organizations as well as potential U.S. military operations in Brazilian territory.
The relationship between the heads of state has experienced tense moments since President Trump’s return to the White House on January 2025, particularly after he signed an executive order in June declaring Brazil a “national security threat” to the United States. The order imposing tariffs was later modified in November. Trump and Lula met in October 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the sidelines of the 47th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, during which they reportedly conversed for around 45 minutes.
Lula has been highly critical of the ongoing war in Iran, which he has described as “madness,” but also dismissed it, claiming Brazil is among the least affected countries by the conflict in the world. In April, speaking to Der Spiegel on the sidelines of his official visit to Germany, Lula asserted that Trump was not elected “emperor of the world” to go around “threatening other countries with war all the time.”
“It is unacceptable that Trump starts a war with Iran and that the poor in Africa and Latin America, who will have to spend more money on beans, meat and vegetables, pay the price,” Lula said at the time. He also criticized Trump over his pressure campaign on the Cuban regime and “intervention” on Venezuela.
“The self-determination of peoples, their territorial integrity and sovereignty should not be violated. Just as [Vladimir] Putin had no right to invade Ukraine, Trump has no right to intervene in Venezuela or threaten Cuba,” Lula claimed.
Most recently, the countries experienced a brief impasse after the U.S. government expelled Brazilian security attaché Marcelo Ivo de Carvalho from the United States. According to Reuters, de Carvalho was allegedly involved in circumstances that led to the arrest of former Brazilian federal lawmaker and former spy chief Alexandre Ramagem by U.S. immigration officials in April. Ramagem is one of several individuals convicted by Brazil’s top court, the Supreme Tribunal Federal (STF), for his participation in a “coup” plot purportedly staged by former President Jair Bolsonaro. Ramagem was ultimately released by U.S. officials and has a pending political asylum request as of April.
The Brazilian government responded to the situation by revoking the credentials of a U.S. immigration officer stationed in Brasília in an act of reciprocity.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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