Overview

• President Donald Trump phoned President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva earlier in the week, with Lula saying the conversation struck a "chemistry" and that the initiative came from Washington.
• The Planalto said Trump designated Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the U.S. interlocutor, and Rubio called Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira on Thursday to advance talks.
• Rubio and Vieira agreed to meet in Washington in the coming days, with timing conditioned on Rubio’s potential travel with Trump to Egypt.
• Brazilian officials say negotiations will focus on ending the roughly 50% surtax imposed since August on Brazilian products and lifting U.S. measures aimed at Brazilian citizens, including STF minister Alexandre de Moraes.
• Officials are working to keep domestic political cases off the agenda and are exploring a possible Lula–Trump meeting at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia this month, though they caution it is not yet confirmed.