Wednesday, June 17th 2026 - 19:05 UTC
“I think Trump knows little about Brazil; if he knows it, it is through his relationship with the Bolsonaro family,” Lula said
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Wednesday asked his US counterpart, Donald Trump, not to interfere in Brazil's elections, a matter he stressed is exclusive to Brazil, just as his country does not seek to meddle in the electoral processes of the United States. The demand was a response to remarks Trump had made about Brazil hours earlier.
Lula spoke at a press conference in Geneva after taking part as a guest in the G7 summit, which concluded on Wednesday in the nearby French town of Évian. There, Trump had said Brazil is a “politically difficult” country that “plays quite hard” —though he warned that “no one plays harder than the United States”— and described the conviction of former deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro as “unpleasant.” “They detained someone who is running for election; he was doing well in the polls, and they detained him for making statements in Texas,” the US president said.
Trump's description appeared to confuse Eduardo Bolsonaro —convicted on Tuesday, a Texas resident who is not running for any office— with his brother, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who is indeed a candidate in Brazil's October elections. The two brothers met with Trump at the White House last month. Eduardo, moreover, was not detained but convicted in absentia.
