Trump Says He'll Meet With Brazil's President After Defending Tariffs Against Brazil
President Donald Trump said that he'll meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva next week after defending his tariffs on Brazil at the United Nations General Assembly.
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During his Sept. 23 address, Trump said that he's using tariffs to "defend our sovereignty and security throughout the world," especially against countries that have taken advantage of the U.S. He singled out Brazil, saying that the country faces "major tariffs in response to its unprecedented efforts to interfere in the rights and freedoms" of Americans with "censorship, repression, weaponization, judicial corruption and targeting of political critics" in the U.S.
Trump said that he had "a little problem saying this," however, because he had encountered the Brazilian president before his remarks and the two leaders "embraced." He said that the two had agreed to meet "next week," and that "he liked me, I liked him" and that he only does business with "people I like." He said that they, "at least for about 39 seconds," had "excellent chemistry," which he said is "a good sign."
Trump then returned to denouncing Brazil's trade practices, saying that it has "unfairly tariffed our nation," but now "we are hitting them back, and we're hitting them back very hard." He promised to "always defend our national sovereignty and the rights of American citizens," and, though he was "very sorry to say this," said that Brazil is "doing poorly and will continue to do poorly." Brazil "can only do well when they're working with us," Trump said. "Without us, they will fail just as others have failed."