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President Donald Trump on Thursday welcomed President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to the White House, marking the first in-depth meeting between the two leaders amid a somewhat turbulent public relationship.
Lula was elected in 2022 in Brazil, where he was up against then-incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro, a right-leaning conservative leader and a strong ally of President Trump. The tight election was fraught with allegations of corruption, though a Brazilian court officially rejected them, per the BBC.
That being said, the relationship between President Trump and Lula has been somewhat hostile, largely due to the Brazilian leader’s occasional, heated criticism of the Trump administration and the Brazilian government’s dogged pursuit of the ousted Bolsonaro.
Before the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s tariff authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, he had utilized duties on Brazilian goods to pressure Lula and Brazilian authorities to stop persecuting his ally, former President Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro was ultimately convicted and sentenced to a whopping 27 years in prison for allegedly attempting to lead a coup to overturn the 2022 Brazilian presidential election – a case President Trump argued was politically fueled during the trial.
“I have seen the terrible treatment you are receiving at the hands of an unjust system turned against you,” the president wrote to Bolsonaro in 2025. “This trial should end immediately!”
He also added, “I have strongly voiced my disapproval both publicly and through our tariff policy. It is my sincere hope that the government of Brazil changes course, stops attacking political opponents, and ends its ridiculous censorship regime. I will be watching closely.”
Due to a series of health challenges linked to a 2018 stabbing assassination attempt, Bolsonaro was placed on house arrest this year, according to the Associated Press.
