Brazil defeats Trump and exposes limits to US influence, says NYT

Brazil challenged Donald Trump — and won. This is the conclusion of the North American newspaper The New York Times in an article published this Monday (24). According to the publication, the United States president’s offensive to prevent Jair Bolsonaro’s arrest failed and exposed the limits of his ability to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.

Reporter Jack Nicas describes that Trump launched, in July, an offensive on several fronts to try to prevent the progress of the case against Jair Bolsonaro. The pressure began with an aggressive letter sent to Lula and progressed to concrete measures, such as 50% tariffs on Brazilian products and sanctions against minister Alexandre de Moraes, in a declared attempt to protect the political ally.

The NYT classifies this intervention as “an extraordinary attempt” to influence Brazil’s most important legal case in decades, using extreme economic and diplomatic instruments to try to prevent the process from moving forward.

Brazilian institutions, however, “basically ignored him”, states the text. Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison and, last Saturday (22), he was detained after violating the conditions of electronic monitoring.

When asked about the arrest, Trump only reacted with a laconic “What a shame”, signaling distance from the ally he had mobilized the US state machine to defend.

For the NYT, the gesture amounts to an admission of defeat, since “Trump practically acknowledged failure”, writes Nicas.

The newspaper highlights that the offensive ended up having the opposite effect to what was intended. Tariffs imposed by the US government have put pressure on domestic prices for meat, coffee and other products precisely at a time of domestic economic stress.

In Brazil, Lula’s firm stance, which publicly criticized external interference and reinforced that the Judiciary acted independently, strengthened the government politically.

Analysts cited by the newspaper claim that North American pressure may have contributed to an even harsher response from the Federal Supreme Court. Eduardo Bolsonaro, who negotiated directly with US authorities in defense of his father, now faces criminal prosecution himself.

The NYT also describes Trump’s retreat after the failure of the offensive. The Republican, who previously classified the investigation against Bolsonaro as persecution, approached Lula in recent diplomatic meetings and began to openly praise the Brazilian president.

Trump said that Lula is “a very vigorous guy” and expressed satisfaction when meeting him at multilateral meetings.

The change was reflected in concrete decisions: last Thursday, Trump signed an executive order removing the most important tariffs applied to Brazil, including on meat and coffee, justifying the measure as part of ongoing negotiations with the Lula government.

For the New York Times, this turn of events represents a clear admission of diplomatic defeat. The newspaper writes that “no one involved lost more” than Bolsonaro, who was not only convicted but lost the protection of his main international supporter and saw his political and legal situation deteriorate rapidly.

Trump, in turn, has demonstrated that his ability to bend foreign governments is limited — especially when it comes to countries with solid institutions and governments with internal legitimacy.

The intervention, considered one of the most aggressive carried out by Washington in years, “was basically in vain”, concludes the text. In response to Trump’s recent statements about the case, Lula was direct: “Trump needs to understand that we are a sovereign country.”