Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday for a working meeting, marking their second in-person encounter. The meeting, classified as a working session rather than a formal State visit, saw Lula arrive at approximately 12:20 Brasília time.
In a departure from traditional White House protocol, Lula requested that the agenda order be inverted, with a private meeting held first before the press entered the Oval Office. A lunch was also scheduled as part of the visit.
The Brazilian delegation included five ministers: Mauro Vieira (Foreign Relations), Dario Durigan (Finance), Márcio Rosa (Development, Industry and Foreign Trade), Alexandre Silveira (Mines and Energy), and Wellington César Lima e Silva (Justice and Public Security). Federal Police director-general Andrei Rodrigues was also part of the delegation but did not enter the meeting.
On the US side, participants included Vice President J.D. Vance, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The discussions covered a range of topics including trade relations, rare earth minerals, combating organized crime, international conflicts, the US investigation into Brazil's PIX payment system, big tech regulation, and the Brazilian electoral landscape.
This meeting followed their first in-person encounter in October of the previous year in Malaysia. That earlier meeting came after the imposition of 50% tariffs on Brazilian exports to the US and sanctions on Brazilian authorities related to the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
The trip to Washington had been in planning since March but was postponed due to the escalation of war in the Middle East and US involvement in the conflict.