Overview
- Both presidents called their 45-minute meeting in Kuala Lumpur excellent and directed their teams to begin negotiations immediately.
- Brazil faces a 50% U.S. tariff on its exports; Lula asked for a pause on the levies during talks and pressed for the suspension of Magnitsky designations affecting Brazilian officials, including Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
- Brazil’s foreign minister said President Trump instructed his team to start talks today with the goal of resolving the dispute quickly.
- Lula offered to act as an interlocutor between the United States and Venezuela, citing concern over rising regional tensions following recent U.S. naval deployments in the Caribbean.
- In parallel, U.S. and Chinese negotiators reported a preliminary consensus on export controls, possible tariff-truce extensions, and fentanyl cooperation, pending internal approvals ahead of a planned Trump–Xi meeting in South Korea.