Trump is caught watching Lula in the UN: “Excellent Chemistry”

The United Nations (UN) released on Tuesday (23) an official photo in which the president of the United States, Donald Trump, appears attentive to the speech of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the opening of the 80th General Assembly.

The record, made behind the scenes, shows Trump standing in front of a screen, holding papers, while following the criticism of the Brazilian agent to sanctions and unilateral measures against the country.

Minutes later, in the UN corridor, the two met, exchanged a brief hug and then the Republican surprised by interrupting his own statement to praise Lula in public.

According to Trump, Lula is a “very pleasant man” and both had an “excellent chemistry”. The American reported that the two governments articulate a meeting for next week in the United States.

Just before, in the plenary, the Brazilian president had hardened the tone against the policy of tariffs and retaliation adopted by Washington.

“Few areas have settled as well as the multilateral trade system. Unilateral measures turn into a deadly basic principles such as the most favored nation clause. They disrupt value chains and launch the world economy into a pernicious spiral of high prices and stagnation,” he said.

Lula also directly criticized interference with the judiciary and classified as unacceptable attempts at external coercion.

“There is no justification for unilateral and arbitrary measures against our institutions and our economy. Aggression against the independence of the judiciary is unacceptable.” he said.

The UN image circulated quickly in the networks, because it reveals the contrast between the hard words of the Brazilian and the silent attention of Trump.

The scene gained even more prominence when the US president himself narrated the meeting.

“I was coming in, and the leader of Brazil was leaving. I saw him, he saw me, and we hugged. We agreed that we will meet next week. He looked a very nice man. In fact, he liked me, I liked him. We had at least 39 seconds of excellent chemistry. he said.

The warm tone was confirmed by the State Department as a spontaneous gesture, without prior citation in the speech.

Despite the change of cuddles, Lula took advantage of the UN Tribune to leave a direct message to far -right powers and allies.

“Faced with the eyes of the world, Brazil gave a message to all candidates for autocrats and those who support them: our democracy and our sovereignty are non -negotiable,” he said.

“We will continue as an independent nation and as a free people of any kind of guardianship,” he added.

The phrases were received with applause, while reinforced the Brazilian position in the face of sanctions and external pressures.

Behind the scenes, diplomacy moved. State Department spokesman Amanda Robertson told the press that there was no planning to mention Lula and that the gesture was improvised.

Chancellor Mauro Vieira confirmed that the brief meeting took place at the request of the Brazilian president and that a new meeting should be held next week, probably remotely.

Between the photo that went viral, the unexpected compliment and the negotiation of behind the scenes, the contrast remains: the cordiality of the hug did not erase the hard message from the speech.