Lula Tells Washington Post His Bond With Trump May Stop New Tariffs
Key Facts
—The interview: Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told The Washington Post in an interview published Sunday May 17 that his personal relationship with US president Donald Trump can attract American investment to Brazil, prevent new tariffs and sanctions, and guarantee respect for Brazilian democracy.
—The signature quote: “If I got Trump to laugh, I can achieve other things too. You cannot simply give up,” Lula told the paper, framing his approach to the relationship as strategic rather than ideological.
—The separation of disagreements: Lula said his political differences with Trump on Iran, Venezuela, and Gaza do not interfere with the head-of-state relationship. “What I want is for him to treat Brazil with respect, understanding that I am the democratically elected president here.”
—The Bolsonaro line: “I never asked Trump not to like Bolsonaro. That is his problem. I do not need to make any effort for him to know I am better than Bolsonaro. He already knows.”
—The May 7 anchor: The interview is Lula’s first major foreign-press conversation since his White House meeting with Trump on May 7, where the two presidents discussed trade, strategic minerals, organised crime, and measures to reduce US-Brazil tariff tensions.
Ten days after walking into the Oval Office, Lula has chosen the Washington Post as the platform to lay out a doctrine: political disagreement at maximum volume, head-of-state cooperation at maximum precision. The bet is that Trump’s personal relationship with Lula can be ringfenced from the bilateral tariff negotiation and from Brazil’s stance on Iran, Venezuela, and Gaza.
The doctrine Lula laid out
The Washington Post interview, published Sunday May 17, presents Lula’s working theory of the bilateral relationship. The personal channel with Trump is treated as a strategic asset that can be separated from the public-policy disagreements. “Trump knows I oppose the war with Iran, I disagree with his intervention in Venezuela, and I condemn the genocide happening in Palestine,” Lula said. “But my political disagreements with Trump do not interfere with my relationship with him as a head of state.” The Rio Times, the Latin American financial news outlet, reports that the separation is the central operating premise: the trade pipe is open while the political pipe runs hot.
Lula’s framing on tariffs is conditional. The personal relationship “can help attract US investment to Brazil, avoid more tariffs and sanctions, and guarantee respect for Brazilian democracy.” None of the three is presented as guaranteed. The signature line, “if I got Trump to laugh, I can achieve other things too,” underlines the strategic rather than personal nature of the bet. Lula has staked political capital on his ability to make the Oval Office bilateral function as a stabiliser.
What was discussed on May 7
According to Brazilian government readouts, the White House meeting on May 7 covered four substantive areas: bilateral trade, strategic minerals, organised crime cooperation, and possible measures to reduce tariff tensions. The Trump administration’s tariff escalation against Brazil over the past 18 months had focused on steel, aluminium, and selected agribusiness products. Lula’s investment pitch in the interview is structured around Brazilian critical minerals (lithium, rare earths, nickel, niobium) as the asset class capable of anchoring a US capital reorientation toward Brazil.
Lula’s recounting of the May 7 conversation included a personal note: “I told President Trump, ‘we are two 80-year-old men. And two 80-year-old men do not waste time in service. Nature is implacable. We theoretically have less time ahead.'” The framing positions both leaders as legacy-conscious decision-makers, encouraging a deal-oriented register over an ideological one.
The interview’s signal quotes
| Topic | Lula quote |
|---|---|
| Strategic approach | “If I got Trump to laugh, I can achieve other things too” |
| Sovereignty | “Those who bow their heads may not be able to lift them again” |
| Brazilian pride | “Brazil is very proud of what it is. We don’t have to bow to anyone” |
| Bolsonaro | “I don’t need to make any effort for him to know I am better than Bolsonaro. He already knows” |
| Iran/Venezuela/Gaza | “My political disagreements with Trump do not interfere with my relationship with him as a head of state” |
What investors and analysts watch
- Next tariff escalation. Whether the Trump administration adds new tariff lines on Brazilian exports in the next 60 days, the operational test of Lula’s claim.
- Strategic-minerals deal. A bilateral framework on critical minerals would be the most likely commercial monument to the Lula-Trump channel.
- Iran-Venezuela spillover. The Lula doctrine of separating disagreements from the bilateral works only as long as Trump accepts that separation. Any Trump escalation on Venezuela that demands Brazilian alignment would test the framework.
- Bolsonaro-narrative competition. Eduardo Bolsonaro’s Sunday claim that “only Flávio can beat Lula” sets up the parallel domestic test of the same relationship.
Connected Coverage
The Datafolha priority-area poll sits in our Datafolha readout. Eduardo Bolsonaro’s Sunday interview is in our Eduardo Bolsonaro defence readout. The TCU 90% Pix-amendment finding sits in our TCU audit analysis. The Lula-Trump May 7 White House readout is in our Oval Office meeting readout.
Reported by The Rio Times — Latin American financial news. Filed May 18, 2026.
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