“The way that 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,” Trump wrote in a letter to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. “This Trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!”
Trump cited several other reasons for imposing the tariff, including rulings from the country’s Supreme Court on American social media companies and what he claimed was a trade deficit with Brazil. The U.S. in fact has a trade surplus with Brazil.
But his focus on Bolsonaro, who is facing criminal charges over an alleged coup following claims of a stolen election, is a particularly pointed step in a months-long series of tariff threats that have sought to twist the arms of foreign countries.
Trump and Bolsonaro have enjoyed a warm relationship, especially when the two men overlapped in office. Bolsonaro has been nicknamed “Trump of the Tropics,” and the two men effectively backed each other’s bid for reelection after their first terms — and when they lost, they both called into question the validity of their respective results.
The Hill’s Miriam Waldvogel has more here.
