A White House spokesperson suggested Tuesday that US President Donald Trump could use military force against Brazil as two of the country's Supreme Court justices said they would vote to convict former far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro of a coup plot involving the assassination of current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and other officials, including a leading member of the high court.

Speaking during a daily press briefing, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that Trump—a staunch Bolsonaro ally who has called the effort to bring him to justice a "witch hunt"—has "taken significant action with regards to Brazil in the form of both sanctions and also leveraging the use of tariffs."

In addition to imposing 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports, Trump has sanctioned Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes—who has led efforts to hold Bolsonaro accountable and who placed the former president under house arrest during his trial—while threatening further punitive action.

The alleged coup plot for which Bolsonaro and seven other defendants are being tried allegedly involved assassinating Moraes, Lula, and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin.

Leavitt dubiously couched her threat as defense of "free speech," saying that "this is a priority for the administration, and the president is unafraid to use the economic might, the military might of the United States of America, to protect free speech around the world."

In 1964, the US assisted a coup against the mildly reformist democratically elected government of Brazilian President João Goulart, ushering in two decades of military dictatorship that crushed dissent and free speech under the pretext of fighting communism. In a move similar to Trump's deployment of US warships to the coast of Venezuela, then-President Lyndon B. Johnson secretly deployed a naval task force to Brazil for possible invasion.

While there was no invasion, the US subsequently supported the 21-year dictatorship, including by sending specialists who taught Brazilian security forces more efficient torture techniques.

Bolsonaro, who was a young army paratrooper during the dictatorship, has infamously praised the brutal regime and pined for its return.

Tuesday's threat came as Moraes and fellow Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino voted to find Bolsonaro and the seven other defendants—who include senior military and intelligence officers—guilty of plotting a coup.

"The defendant, Jair Bolsonaro, was leader of this criminal structure," Moraes told the court in the capital city of Brasília.

"Brazil nearly went back to being a dictatorship... because a criminal organization made up of a political group doesn't know how to lose elections," the justice added. "Because a criminal organization made up of a political group led by Jair Bolsonaro doesn't understand that the alternation of power is a principle of republican democracy." s

In addition to attempting a coup, Bolsonaro is charged with involvement in an armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, violent damage of state property, and other charges. A coup conviction carries a sentence of up to 12 years' imprisonment under Brazilian law. However, if convicted on all counts, Bolsonaro and his co-defendants could face decades behind bars.

The former president and seven other defendants are accused of being the "crucial core" of a plan to overturn the results of the 2022 election, which Lula narrowly won in a runoff. Like Trump in 2020, Bolsonaro and many of his supporters falsely claimed the contest was "stolen" by the opposition. And like in the US, those claims fueled mob attacks on government buildings. Around 1,500 Bolsonaro supporters were arrested in the days following the storming of Congress and the presidential offices.

Bolsonaro is already banned from running for any office until 2030 due to his abuse of power related to baseless claims of electoral fraud.

Members of Lula's Workers' Party (PT) and other leftist lawmakers applauded Tuesday's conviction votes.

"Our expectation is that justice will be done," Federal Deputy Nilto Tatto (PT-São Paulo) said outside the court. "It was, clearly, an attempted coup. They tried to discredit the electoral system and even set up a scheme to assassinate President Lula."

Leftist lawmakers also condemned the White House's threat, with Federal Deputy Lindbergh Farias (PT-Rio de Janeiro) calling it "a blatant attempt to interfere with our sovereignty and judicial independence."

"This has nothing to do with 'freedom of expression': It is external pressure, blackmail, and intimidation to sabotage Brazilian justice," Farias asserted. "Brazil is neither a backyard nor a colony of anyone. And the trial of the coup plot, which already has two votes in favor... will continue to the end, because here the Constitution decides, not Donald Trump."

Federal Deputy Erika Hilton (Socialism and Liberty-São Paulo) called Leavitt's "free speech" justification "ridiculous."

"First of all, no one is restricting Bolsonaro's freedom of speech," she said. "He can say whatever he wants, from inside his house, where the ineligible individual is serving house arrest due to the risk of flight."

"It's also important to remember that US legislation does not apply to Brazil," Hilton continued. "Instead of protecting absolute freedom of speech to shield groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the right of murderers to enter schools with rifles, our Constitution addresses issues relevant to our country, our democracy, and our people. And in this Constitution, made after the end of a military dictatorship, there is provision for... punishment against those who attempt a coup d'état."

"Of course, besides not caring, Trump isn't even capable of understanding all this," she added. "He's too busy planning his defense for the next public accusation of child sexual exploitation, his next round of golf, or his next dip in a pool of Doritos-flavored sauce. And with his brain in an advanced state of degeneration, Trump was only capable of an empty threat."

Large percentages of people in five nations want arms, fuel, and machinery embargoes on Israel in response to its obliteration and starvation of Gaza, a poll published Thursday revealed.

The survey—which was conducted last month by Pollfish for the Global Energy Embargo for Palestine and endorsed by Progressive International—queried people in Brazil, Colombia, Greece, South Africa, and Spain about whether their governments, fuel companies, weapons makers, and heavy machinery manufacturers should stop, reduce, continue, or increase business with Israel.

Nearly two-thirds of Spanish respondents said they strongly support or support their government taking action "to reduce trade in weapons, fuel, and other relevant goods to pressure Israel to end its military actions in Gaza." In Greece, 63% back an embargo, while 35% oppose it. Sixty percent of Colombians, 58% of South Africans, and 48% of Brazilians strongly or somewhat support punitive sanctions on Israel.

Conversely, 27% of Brazilians said they do not support or strongly oppose an embargo on Israel, while 20% of South Africans, 14% of Colombians and Greeks, and 12% of Spaniards feel the same.

Support for ending or reducing weapons transfers was strong in all five nations, with 76% of Colombian respondents, 75% of Spaniards and Greeks, 66% of South Africans, and 59% of Brazilians favoring such action.

A majority of respondents in all five countries also said that companies providing arms, fuel, or heavy machinery to Israel "should be held responsible for how those products are used in Gaza."

"The people have spoken and they refuse to be complicit," Global Energy Embargo for Palestine campaigner Ana Sánchez said in a statement.

"Across continents, ordinary citizens demand an end to the fuel that powers settler colonialism, apartheid, and genocide," Sánchez added. "No state that claims to uphold democracy can justify maintaining energy, military, or economic ties with Israel while it commits a genocide in Palestine. This is not just about trade; it's about people's power to cut the supply lines of oppression."

The poll was published 670 days into Israel's U.S.-backed assault and siege on Gaza, which has left at least 226,600 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and hundreds of thousands more starving amid increasingly deadly famine as Israel blocks aid from entering the embattled enclave.

The far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—a fugitive from the International Criminal Court wanted for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza—is moving ahead with plans for the "full conquest," reoccupation, and ethnic cleansing of the strip, which U.S. President Donald Trump wants to transform into "the Riviera of the Middle East."

Israel's conduct in the war is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case brought by South Africa and supported by around two dozen nations. Among the countries in the survey, Colombia—which severed diplomatic ties with Israel in May 2024—Spain, and Brazil have formally joined or signaled their intent to join South Africa's case.

The ICJ also found last year that Israel's occupation of Palestine is an illegal form of apartheid.

"What the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinian people is not war, it is genocide," Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in February 2024 shortly after recalling his ambassador to Tel Aviv. "If this isn't genocide, I don't know what is."

On Thursday, European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera—who is Spanish—told Politico, "If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning."

"What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed, and condemned to starve to death," Ribera said. "A concrete population is confined, with no homes—being destroyed—no food, water, or medicines—being forbidden to access—and subject to bombing and shooting even when they are trying to get humanitarian aid. Any humanity is absent, and no witness[es] are allowed."

Of the surveyed nations, all but Greece support an arms embargo on Israel. The other four countries took part in last month's Hague Group emergency ministerial conference in Colombia, which was organized by Progressive International and ended with the publication of a joint action plan for "coordinated diplomatic, legal, and economic measures to restrain Israel's assault on the occupied Palestinian territories and defend international law at large."

"The message from the peoples of the world is loud and clear: They want action to end the assault on Gaza—not just words," Progressive International co-general coordinator David Adler said in a statement accompanying the new survey's publication.

"Across continents, majorities are calling for their governments to halt arms sales and restrain Israel's occupation," Adler added. "That's why states are coming together through the Hague Group to take concrete measures toward accountability. It's time for others to follow their lead."

Meanwhile, a survey published Tuesday by the Israel Democracy Institute revealed that 8 in 10 Israeli Jews "are not so troubled or not at all troubled personally" by "the reports of famine and suffering among the Palestinian population in Gaza."

Eight people, including a child, starved to death in Gaza that day, on which local officials said that more than 80 Palestinians were killed by Israel's bombs, bullets, and blockade.

O presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sancionou nesta quarta-feira (6) dois projetos de lei que buscam valorizar festas e músicas brasileiras. O PL 1.730/2024 reconhece o carnaval do Rio de Janeiro como manifestação da cultura nacional. O PL 4.187/2024 institui 17 de fevereiro como Dia Nacional da Axé-Music, gênero musical nascido na Bahia.

“A cultura brasileira se destaca no mundo inteiro, é uma das culturas que mais influenciam outras culturas no mundo. E o carnaval tem esse lugar, esse momento de exposição de tudo isso. Para quem vive realmente de arte, de cultura, ele condensa todas as expressões, todas as profissões”, disse a ministra da Cultura, Margareth Menezes.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Com plenário obstruído, Senado terá sessão remota, diz Alcolumbre.
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“Por isso é preciso garantir os orçamentos. Porque o orçamento que a gente recebe é menos de 1% do todo e o que se devolve é 3,11% do Produto Interno Bruto.”

A solenidade também contou com a presença da ministra de Secretaria de Relações Institucionais do Brasil Gleisi Hoffmann, do ministro do Turismo Celso Sabino, da ministra da Igualdade Racial, Anielle Franco, e da ministra de Direitos Humanos e da Cidadania, Macaé Evaristo. Parlamentares, prefeitos, artistas e representantes de blocos e escolas de samba também participaram do ato.

As origens do carnaval carioca remontam ao século XIX e tem como base histórica culturas afro-brasileiras. A relatora do projeto, a deputada federal Laura Carneiro (PSD/RJ), destacou o peso econômico da festa e a possibilidade de captação de mais recursos.

“É um projeto muito simples, mas todos nós sabemos da importância do carnaval do Rio. Não é só um espetáculo maravilhoso. É um ciclo da economia criativa, que funciona durante todo o ano”, disse a deputada. “Quando essa proteção legal é definida, estamos tratando de apoio institucional. De recursos e de fomento. Esse projeto é para dizer que agora o carnaval do Rio é uma manifestação cultural nacional. E, portanto, nós aguardamos ansiosos muitos recursos para a cidade.”

O Axé Music nasceu na Bahia nos anos 1980, fruto da fusão de ritmos como ijexá, samba, frevo, reggae e lambada. O gênero está presente em blocos afro e circuito de trios elétricos do carnaval baiano. A escolha do dia 17 de fevereiro como data oficial faz referência ao lançamento da música Fricote, de Luiz Caldas, considerada o marco inicial do gênero.

A deputada federal Lídice da Mata (PSB/BA), relatora do projeto sobre o Axé-Music, reforçou a diversidade cultural e musical que o gênero reúne. E também lembrou de como ele movimenta economicamente o país.

“O Axé se tornou um gênero, vem de um processo que traz influência de vários ritmos latino americanos. Tem o frevo, o maracatu, o samba-reggae, os batuques, e as vozes que transformaram esse carnaval em um símbolo do brasil”, disse a deputada.

“Carnaval é o momento em que cidade incorpora uma cadeia produtiva infinita. E é isso que esse dia vai trazer para o Brasil. É um grande vetor de desenvolvimento, com sustentabilidade ambiental e soluções inovadoras.”

Brazil's Supreme Court placed far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro under house arrest Monday in anticipation of his trial for allegedly attempting a coup following his loss in the 2022 election.

The order has heightened the current government's already simmering tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has imposed high tariffs on some Brazilian imports over what he calls a "witch hunt" against his ally.

Bolsonaro's house arrest was ordered by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who says the former president had violated restrictions imposed last month banning him from using social media, which he'd been using to rile up supporters to attack the Supreme Court.

The justice said Bolsonaro had used the accounts of allies, including his politician sons, to send "clear encouragement and incitement to attack the Supreme Federal Court, and overt support for foreign intervention in Brazil's judiciary."

The Associated Press reports that Bolsonaro had his phones seized from his Brasilia residence.

Trump slapped Moraes, who is presiding over Bolsonaro's trial, with Magnitsky sanctions—typically reserved for major human rights abusers—last week, which supporters of Brazil's left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called "a direct attack on Brazilian democracy."

Brazilian journalist Brian Mier says Bolsonaro has been emboldened by Trump's support to defy Moraes' orders, assuming that threats from the U.S. would cause the judge "to back down."

"It backfired," Mier said.

The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs issued a furious condemnation of Bolsonaro's arrest, promising to "hold accountable all those aiding and abetting sanctioned conduct."

The department hinted that it may place more sanctions on other members of the Supreme Court.

Maria do Rosário, a federal deputy for Lula's Workers' Party (PT), hit back in a post on X.

"With what authority does this attempt to interfere in Brazil's judiciary power, and the threat to Brazilian authorities and citizens persist?" she asked. "None."

The charges against Bolsonaro, often called the "Trump of the tropics," bear a striking resemblance to those leveled against the U.S. president following his 2020 election loss.

Like Trump, Bolsonaro flagrantly spread false claims that his election loss was the result of rampant fraud, which prompted a mob of supporters to attack the legislature in hopes of overturning the "stolen" election.

Brazilian state police have accused Bolsonaro of going even further—allegedly enlisting military officers in a plot to assassinate Lula and forcibly retake power.

Trump has nevertheless drawn parallels between his own legal struggles and those faced by Bolsonaro.

"This is nothing more, or less, than an attack on a Political Opponent – Something I know much about! It happened to me, times 10," Trump wrote last month on Truth Social.

Vinicios Betiol, a geopolitics scholar from the University of Rio de Janeiro, says that "Bolsonaro and Donald Trump are plotting a coup against Brazil."

While he said the arrest of Bolsonaro is worth celebrating, he cautioned that provoking the Supreme Court was part of his strategy "to fuel the narrative of persecution" and whip up civil unrest among his supporters.

"Radical Bolsonarists," he said, "are already talking about blocking roads, toppling power towers, and attacking the [Supreme Court]."

Video: Terra Brasil

Following the announcement of Bolsonaro's arrest, supporters of the former president flooded the streets and drove around the capital Brasilia, with some chanting, "Brazil will stop."

Many of Bolsonaro's supporters view Trump as a key cog in the effort to shield Bolsonaro from prosecution. As The Guardian reports:

On Monday night, hundreds of followers flocked to the gates of Bolsonaro's upmarket condominium to vent their anger, some carrying U.S. flags.

"We want Trump to help us," said one protester, Ricardo, who wore a red MAGA cap and declined to give his second name as he stood outside Bolsonaro's compound holding up a star-spangled banner. "Our solution can no longer come from within [Brazil]. It has to come from abroad. The sanctions are working. More people need to be hit with Magnitsky."

"They know that Bolsonaro will be convicted and have thus gone all-in," Betiol said. "They are willing to cause civil unrest, force the [Supreme Court] to act, and then seek a coup with Trump's help."

"We must indeed celebrate Bolsonaro's arrest," he continued, "but we cannot lower our guard at this decisive moment in our country's history."

Opponents including native and Afro-descendant communities and environment defenders are urging progressive Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to veto legislation passed Thursday by the lower house of the National Congress that would dramatically weaken environmental protections and Indigenous peoples' control over their own lands.

Bill 2159/2021—commonly called the "Devastation Bill"—was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in a 267-116 vote in the dead of night following its passage by the Senate in May. The vote, which took place at approximately 3:40 am, was called by Chamber of Deputies President Hugo Motta of the right-wing Republicans party. Both houses of the National Congress have strong right-wing majorities; some members of Lula's leftist Workers' Party also voted for the bill.

If approved by Lula, the legislation would introduce an online self-declaration process for environmental licensing for many mining and agricultural projects that critics say will fuel deforestation and other destruction. The bill also speeds up the review process for development projects prioritized by the federal government and eliminates reviews for highway upgrades.

"As approved, the bill encourages deforestation and aggravates the climate crisis," Marcio Astrini, executive director of the Climate Observatory," said following the vote.

"Lula says Brazil will lead the environmental agenda by example. A veto, on the eve of COP30, is the perfect opportunity to make the discourse into practice," he continued, referring to this November's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém.

"We hope that he will meet his campaign commitments and reject this absurd text approved by the Brazilian Congress," Astrini added.

— (@)

Lula has 15 days to either approve or veto the measure. However, the right-wing congressional majority could overturn a veto, prompting the Supreme Court to intervene.

Proponents argue the bill would simplify the regulatory process.

"Finally, we have improved legislation to unlock investments, streamline the system, and generate opportunities and income for the country," said Pedro Lupion, a deputy from the right-wing Progressistas party representing Paraná and president of the Parliamentary Agriculture Front.

However, Climate Observatory public policy coordinator Suely Araújo said that the proposal represents "the greatest setback to Brazil's environmental legislation" since licensing requirements were introduced in the 1980s.

Some critics of the bill pointed to Article 225 of the Brazilian Constitution, which states that "everyone has the right to an ecologically balanced environment, which is an asset of common use and essential to a healthy quality of life, and both the government and the community shall have the duty to defend and preserve it for present and future generations."

Brazilian Minister for Indigenous Peoples Sônia Guajajara, a member of the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), said on the social media site X that Thursday's vote "should be forever remembered as the moment when the Chamber of Deputies attacked Brazilian environmental legislation and showed its lack of commitment to the future."

"In the year we will host the COP, our parliamentarians show what example not to set for the world," she added.

Célia Xakriabá, a PSOL deputy representing Minas Gerais, called the bill "legislative ecocide."

Quilombolas—residents of quilombos, Afro-Brazilian communities formed by self-liberated slaves or their descendants—and their advocates also sounded the alarm over the bill, pointing to existing efforts by extractive industries to kick them off their lands.

"The Devastation Bill threatens over 80% of quilombos and 32% of Indigenous lands in Brazil," progressive Rio de Janeiro consultant Lázaro Rosa noted on X. "Let's put strong pressure to ensure this abomination is not approved."

Erika Hilton, a PSOL federal deputy representing São Paulo, said that if the bill is approved by Lula, "mining companies will be able to renew their licenses automatically, without technical studies or prior analysis."

"This is a recipe for new tragedies like those in Brumadinho, Mariana, and Braskem in Maceió," she warned. "Other points of the bill include the end of environmental licensing for agriculture to deforest and the end of control over the use of our water resources... And the Devastation Bill will also destroy the control of pollutant emissions, putting at risk the very air we breathe."

Hilton continued: "Even so, the tendency is that, with the narrative that all our environmental legislation is bureaucracy that hinders development, the deputies will approve this horror. But what country develops with an environmental tragedy every other day? What country develops if children start being born without brains due to pollution, like in the '70s in Cubatão? What country develops if the people no longer have water to drink, air to breathe, and life to live?"

"These are the questions that the deputies are ignoring," she added.

Journalist Amanda Miranda denounced members of Congress who voted to authorize "the destruction of Brazil while its citizens sleep."

"Brazil will be handed over to the interests of businessmen who will help reelect each one of them," she added. "Every climate catastrophe is part of this reckoning too."

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva responded defiantly on Wednesday to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose a 50% tariff on products from the South American nation, a move that Lula said would be reciprocated.

"Brazil is a sovereign nation with independent institutions and will not accept any form of tutelage," Lula said in a statement released shortly after Trump issued the tariff threat.

To justify the threat, which sent Brazil's currency plunging, Trump condemned as a "witch hunt" the ongoing trial of his far-right ally, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was indicted late last year for attempting a coup following his 2022 election loss to Lula. The coup plot allegedly included a plan to poison Lula and kill a Supreme Court judge.

Trump also falsely claimed that the U.S. has a trade deficit with Brazil. In fact, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. had a $7.4 billion goods trade surplus with Brazil last year.

In his statement on Wednesday, Lula responded to each of his U.S. counterpart's claims, saying that the "judicial proceedings against those responsible for planning the coup d'état fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of Brazil's Judicial Branch and, as such, are not subject to any interference or threats that could compromise the independence of national institutions."

Lula went on to note that Trump's deficit assertion was "inaccurate," pointing to U.S. government figures showing "a surplus of $410 billion in the trade of goods and services with Brazil over the past 15 years."

"Therefore, any unilateral tariff increases will be addressed in accordance with Brazil's Economic Reciprocity Law," said Lula. "Sovereignty, respect, and the unwavering defense of the interests of the Brazilian people are the values that guide our relationship with the world."

Lula has been an outspoken opponent of Trump's trade threats and bullying, saying after Trump attacked BRICS nations earlier this week that "we don't want an emperor."

"This is a set of countries that wants to find another way of organizing the world from the economic perspective," Lula said. "I think that's why the BRICS are making people uncomfortable."

After days of publicly railing against Brazil for the trial of its former leader, Jair Bolsonaro, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened the South American country with a 50% tariff "on any and all Brazilian products sent into the United States."

Far-right Bolsonaro, sometimes called the "Trump of the Tropics," lost Brazil's 2022 presidential election to leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the recipient of the Wednesday letter that the U.S. president posted on his Truth Social network.

Bolsonaro is now facing a trial for alleged crimes, including an attempted coup d'état, following his reelection loss. The Brazilian's effort to cling to power was called "straight from Donald Trump's playbook," with critics worldwide pointing to the U.S. leader inciting the January 6, 2021 insurrection after his own electoral loss the previous November.

"This is a disgrace, just old-fashioned imperialism. A 50% tariff because Brazil's legal system has defended democracy."

In Truth Social posts on Monday and Tuesday, Trump blasted the trial as a "WITCH HUNT" and an "attack on a Political Opponent" while praising Bolsonaro as a "strong Leader, who truly loved his Country" and a "very tough negotiator on TRADE."

Echoing those posts, Trump wrote to Lula: "The way Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace. This Trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!"

"Due in part to Brazil's insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans (as lately illustrated by the Brazilian Supreme Court, which has issued hundreds of SECRET and UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders to U.S. Social Media platforms, threatening them with Millions of Dollars in Fines and Eviction from the Brazilian Social Media market), starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Brazil a Tariff of 50%," Trump continued.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the Brazilian Supreme Court justice overseeing Bolsonaro's case, was also involved in a legal battle that temporarily shut down the social media platform X in Brazil. The network, formerly known as Twitter, is owned by estranged Trump ally Elon Musk, the richest man on Earth. The weekslong suspension of X last year stemmed from the company's refusal to comply with an order to deactivate dozens of accounts accused of spreading disinformation.

Trump claimed in his letter to Lula that "these Tariffs are necessary to correct the many years of Brazil's Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, causing these unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States. However, The Guardian noted, "the U.S. runs a trade surplus with Brazil, thanks in part to a free-trade agreement expanded in 2020, during Trump's first term."

The newspaper pointed to data on Brazil from the website of United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer:

U.S. total goods trade with Brazil were an estimated $92 billion in 2024. U.S. goods exports to Brazil in 2024 were $49.7 billion, up 11.3% ($5.0 billion) from 2023. U.S. goods imports from Brazil in 2024 totaled $42.3 billion, up 8.3% ($3.2 billion) from 2023. The U.S. goods trade surplus with Brazil was $7.4 billion in 2024, a 31.9% increase ($1.8 billion) over 2023.

Various journalists and other critics also highlighted the surplus. Michael Reid, a writer and visiting professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said on social media: "This is a disgrace, just old-fashioned imperialism. A 50% tariff because Brazil's legal system has defended democracy. And by the way, the U.S. has a trade surplus with Brazil."

— (@)

Politico reported that "the overtly political tone of the letter is a break with more than a dozen other letters Trump has sent to foreign governments this week, threatening to impose new tariff rates on their exports to the U.S. beginning August 1."

While Trump's letter to Brazil has overtly political motivations, he also said during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting that he would target the entire BRICS economic group of emerging market nations, which began with Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and now also includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.

"If they're a member of BRICS, they are going to have to pay a 10% tariff, just for that one thing—and they won't be a member long," Trump said, according to CNN. "BRICS was set up to hurt us, BRICS was set up to degenerate our dollar and take our dollar, take it off as the standard."