Brazil’s Lula to travel to US to meet with Trump later this week

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to travel to the United States to meet with his counterpart, Donald Trump, later this week, according to media reports.

The Brazilian paper O Globo first reported the planned trip on Monday. The Reuters news agency also reported later in the day, citing two anonymous Brazilian officials, that Lula would travel to the US in the coming days. One source said he was traveling on Wednesday for a meeting with Trump the following day.

The White House has yet to confirm reports of the trip.

The relationship between the leftist Lula and Trump has improved after an initial period of hostility, during which the US slapped tariffs on Brazilian goods and pressured Brazilian authorities to drop a legal case against former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro over his involvement in a coup plot.

While tensions have persisted over issues such as foreign policy and the Trump administration’s relationship with Bolsonaro and his allies, the two leaders spoke by phone in January, when Lula said he would travel to the US in the future.

Trump and Lula briefly met in person on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur in October.