Brazilian president says that Donald Trump was elected to lead the US, not to be ‘the emperor of the world’.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said that his country will not take instructions from the United States after US President Donald Trump threatened Brazil with 50 percent tariffs and called for an end to the trial of right-wing ally Jair Bolsonaro.
In an interview with CNN on Thursday, President Lula said that the tariffs have no “logic” but that he does not believe there is a “crisis” in relations between the US and his country as of yet.
“For me, it was a surprise, not only the value of that tariff, but also how it was announced, the way it was announced,” Lula said. “We cannot have President Trump forgetting that he was elected to govern the US, not to be the emperor of the world.”
The US president’s heavy-handed approach to economic relations with other countries has chafed foreign leaders such as Lula, who has expressed frustration at what he sees as Trump’s efforts to dictate terms to Brazil on matters of trade and domestic judicial proceedings.
Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil who has close ties with Trump and his family, is currently on trial for alleged efforts to mount a coup and reverse Lula’s victory over him in the 2022 election.
Trump, who also faced legal trouble stemming from his efforts to remain in office after los …