Lula warns Trump not to interfere in Brazil's election at G7 summit

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva used the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, to draw a hard line against Donald Trump, warning the U.S. president not to interfere in Brazil’s upcoming election. The confrontation unfolded after Trump’s remarks were read to Lula during a news conference, turning a diplomatic gathering into a public display of how quickly tensions between Brasília and Washington have sharpened.

The clash went well beyond a personal dispute between two outspoken leaders. For Brazil, a U.S. president openly commenting on another country’s electoral future is a serious breach of diplomatic norms, especially when it comes alongside pressure over trade, legal cases and internal politics. Trump had described Brazil as “dangerous politically” and suggested officials wanted to arrest “Bolsonaro junior,” a comment that appeared to conflate members of former president Jair Bolsonaro’s family. Lula replied that Trump “doesn't know Brazil well” and said liking Bolsonaro and his relatives was Trump’s business, not his problem.

The political fight has been sharpened by Washington’s recent moves on trade and security. On June 1, the U.S. Trade Representative launched a Section 301 action on Brazil, saying policies tied to digital trade and electronic payment services, unfair preferential tariffs, anti-corruption enforcement, intellectual property protection, ethanol market access and illegal deforestation were unreasonable and burdened U.S. commerce. Reuters reported that the administration proposed a 25% tariff on many imports from Brazil. Just days earlier, on May 28, the State Department designated Comando Vermelho and Primeiro Comando da Capital as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and said it intended to classify both as Foreign Terrorist Organizations effective June 5.

Lula has cast those measures as pressure tactics against Brazilian sovereignty, and he has also objected to U.S. sanctions on Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, whom the Trump administration accused of playing a politically motivated role in Bolsonaro-related prosecutions. The context is combustible: Bolsonaro was convicted in September 2025 of attempting a coup after losing the 2022 election to Lula and was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison.

The stakes are also economic. The United States says Brazil is its second-largest trading partner in South America, and the two countries recorded $120.9 billion in two-way trade in goods and services in 2022, with a $30 billion U.S. surplus. Even as Washington and Brasília maintain regular exchanges on trade facilitation, regulatory standards, labor and environmental issues, the latest exchange signaled a deeper fight over who gets to shape Brazil’s political future.