TRANSCRIPT: President Trump Holds a Bilat with Lula da Silva of Brazil in Kuala Lumpur, 10.26.25
[Video]
Question: Hi, Mr. President.
President Trump: Hello. How are you?
Question: How are you feeling?
Trump: I feel good.
Question: What's gonna be your message to President Lula?
Trump: Well, you'll hear [Inaudible]
Question: [Inaudible] Are you going to [Inaudible] the tariffs on Brazil?
Trump: Yeah, I think I want to raise them on Mexico, a little bit. [Inaudible]
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: No, Brazil, Brazil is -- Uh, we're gonna, we're gonna make a deal. I think we'll make a deal with Brazil. We get along very well. We met just before I found out that they turned off my teleprompter at the United Nations. You know, I walked up, I had no teleprompter. I just shaked [Inaudible] hand. [Inaudible] And then get up, and they were introducing me, and I see all the leaders, 158 leaders, and I notice there was nothing on my teleprompter. That was a nice -- But it worked out well. And I think, (laughs) I think it was a better speech than the one I had.
Question: Mr. President, are you, uh, convinced or were you convinced, by the Brazilian government that the reasons you presented to impose tariffs on Brazil were not fair?
Trump: No, I think everything's fair. Look, you know, we have, uh, economies and have a lot of respect for your president, as, as you know. Uh, a lot of respect for Brazil. So we'll see. We'll probably work out some deals. I'll leave these guys to work 'em out. But I think we're gonna work out some deals. We have to get --
Question: Mr. President, about the --
Trump: We have to get, uh, certain things.
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: Wait, who's that shouting? Who's shouting? Is that You? Don't shout.
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: Don't shout. Who was, uh, -- We'll, first of all, let me just say it's a great honor to be with the President of Brazil. It's a great country. It's a big, beautiful country. And, uh, I think they're doing well. I think they're doing very well from what I understand. And, uh, I think we should be able to make some pretty good deals for both countries.
Trump: And I'm gonna leave that a little bit to Jameson and Scott, and Marco in different ways. Marco, less, (laughs) less on the economic side. You could, you could do it very well, but I don't think you'll have to. But I think we'll have, uh, -- I think we'll be able to do some pretty good deals. We've been speaking, and I think we'll end up having a very good relationship. We always have had a good relationship. I think it'll continue.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva: I'd think the press would have good news after we end the meeting. But sir, only assumptions before we start the building. Brazil has had an interest in having an extraordinary relationship with the U.S. There's no reason for having any kind of conflict between Brazil and the U.S. I believe there when two presidents sit around the table, and each one raises their viewpoints, and their problem, and then we can forward to new mutual view afterwards.
And I am convinced, and I said before I came here, I was very optimistic to, uh, [Inaudible] to advance the relationship between Brazil and the U.S. I don't know if President Trump will have time, but I have an agenda to discuss with you. [Inaudible] I brought it in writing. I'll give you a copy of our agenda, already in English.
If we don't have time to -- I don't know if we'll have time to discuss all the issues here. So that's why I brought, I brought it in writing.
Note: [Crosstalk]
Question: President Trump, [Inaudible] President Trump, you said yesterday, Mr. President, you said yesterday that under the right conditions you would reduce the tariffs of Brazil. What are those conditions?
Trump: Well, you'll see, we- -- we're dealing on it right now, and we'll be discussing it for a little while, and I think we'll probably come to a conclusion pretty quickly. We know, we know each other, we know, uh, what each other wants. I think we'll come to a conclusion. I think we'll come to a lot of conclusions this week.
This has been a very big week. We, uh, concluded a war just now. We had the official signing, and that was, that was a great honor. That's actually why we came here. Yeah, we had, uh, Cambodia and Thailand, and really lots of others. We've done, we've done eight and we're looking to do nu- -- number nine, which would be Russia and Ukraine.
So we, we've done a lot of work. We've done a lot of good there. We've done a lot of good work. So, yeah, please. Please go ahead.
Question: How are y'all feeling about Mr. Bolsonaro, Mr. President?
Trump: Well, I've always liked him. I've always liked him. I feel very badly about what happened to him, really. I've always thought he was a straight shooter, but, uh, and he's gone through a lot.
Question: Is this on the agenda today?
Trump: He's gone through a lot.
Question: Is on the table today?
Trump: Uh, it's none of your business.
Question: What about China, Mr. President? Are you concerned about the President's relationship with China and it's privilege?
Trump: No, I think we're gonna do well with China. I think we're gonna have a deal with China. We meet, as you know, in South Korea with President Xi. I think we're gonna have a, a good deal with China and they wanna make a deal and we wanna make a deal. We've agreed to meet and we're gonna meet them later in China and we're gonna meet in, uh, in the US in either Washington or Fort -- Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach.
So, uh, no. I think, uh, you know, a lot of these talks when we meet, we've done a lot of discussions before we meet. We've done discussions with Brazil. So I think we're gonna end up having a good deal for both countries. I think with China that's gonna happen. And we have other deal, you know, we have Japan, we have South Korea, we have a lot of, a lot of meetings.
Trump: But people seem to be very interested in China. I think we're gonna have a, a --
Question: Mr. President --
Trump: -- very fair meeting with China.
Note: [Crosstalk]
Question: Can you, can you give some of the topics today on Brazil? Brazil is requesting --
Trump: Yeah, we can do, we can do things fast. We move quickly. We're very --
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: -- nimble.
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: We're very nimble --
Question: [Inaudible] Do you plan to discuss the situation? Do you plan to discuss the situation?
Trump: Not, not you again please.
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: Go ahead, please. Yeah?
Question: Are you- are you discussing your actions in Venezuela state? And is there anything you're asking the Brazilian --
Trump: I don't think we're gonna be discussing Venezuela. They're not involved with Venezuela. They're not -- We're just doing what Venezuela [Inaudible] You know, I would discuss, if they want to I'll discuss it. But no, I don't think we're gonna be discussing it.
Question: [Inaudible] Venezuela.
Trump: Yeah, please. In the back?
Question: [Inaudible] Mr. President, besides Bolsonaro, is there anything that Brazil can offer to smooth relations with the US?
Trump: We're gonna find out in probably 15 minutes. It'll be go- -- it'll go very quickly. They can offer a lot and we can offer a lot. I, it's good- and it's good for both countries. Please?
Question: Mr. President, would you, in Asia making all of these deals in China's backyard, what should they take away from the strong US president?
Trump: I don't think they should take away anything. I think we're gonna have a good deal with China. I think we're gonna make a deal. It's gonna be great for China. Great for us. I mean, you know, we have a lot of things that are, uh, good for both and we know pretty much we've been dealing with China. You know, we don't just meet in a vacuum.
We've had a lot of discussions, Jameson Scott, Howard Marco, on different things. Uh, we've had a lot of discussions with China, we have with Brazil too. We- -- we're not walking into the room, like, with no knowledge. We're walking in with great knowledge and the media don't even have to take that long, frankly.
We know pretty much where we are and we know where they are.
Question: Mr. President who are [Inaudible]
Trump: [Inaudible]
Lula da Silva: I would like to suggest that the press continue the interview after the meeting.
Question: [Inaudible]
Lula da Silva: We don't have much time and we will waste time or lose time talking with the journalists. So we have valuable time. If you have patience, you'll know the results of the meeting. [Inaudible] rush. You're gonna have heard the new things that will come out in the meeting. Before I'd suggest that --
Trump: They're not st- -- they're not great questions today, I must say. You know -- [Laughter]
-- they're sort of boring, they're sort of boring questions.
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: But we'll see you later --
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: Thank you very --
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: -- much.
Question: [Inaudible]
Aide: Thank you guys.