Trump May Name Son Eric as Ambassador to Brazil, in Exchange for Eduardo Bolsonaro

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In a diplomatic move without precedent in the recent history of world diplomacy, US President Donald Trump may appoint one of his five sons — Eric — to head the United States Embassy in Brasília, says Globo in one of its latest reports.

According to sources in the Brazilian government, Eric Trump would come to Brazil if federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSL-SP) is appointed ambassador in Washington, as his father, President Jair Bolsonaro, indicated yesterday, writes Globo.

By coincidence, Eric is the same age as Eduardo: 35 years old.

The information is that this prospect would be much more limited in Brazil — a country with no history of political appointments to its main embassies, unlike the United States, where campaign donors and politicians who are not career diplomatis are commonly appointed.

According to sources engaged in the matter, sending the children of the two presidents to take over their respective embassies would strengthen bilateral relations.

A source remarked that what is most heard in Washington is that the performance of the Brazilian embassy is “very ceremonial, bureaucratic and outdated.”

The Americans allegedly have made it clear that they expect an exchange of political appointments for their embassies.

Figures such as Trump’s former campaign strategist and one of the ideologues of the right-wing nationalist wave, Steve Bannon; former U.S. Undersecretary of State for Latin America Roger Noriega; and former U.S. Ambassador to Brasilia, Clifford Sobel, have always insisted on this point.

Among the members of the government, there is an assessment that Eduardo’s departure to the United States would be “a huge victory” for Chancellor Ernesto Araújo.

Relations with Washington would carry even more weight, and Ernesto Araújo would have more room to oversee foreign policy as a whole.

In addition to his sister Ivanka, Eric has a full brother, Donald Trump Jr.; the three are Trump’s children by Ivana Zelnickova, his first wife. Eric has two half siblings: Barron, Trump’s son by his current wife Melania; and Tiffany, the president’s daughter by his second wife, Marla Maples.

Currently, Eric is vice-president of the Trump Organizations, which he directs along with his brother Donald Jr.