Washington DC [US], October 7 : US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said he had a 'great' phone call with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Trump recounted his meeting with Silva at the United Nations General Assembly, saying that he was a good man.
"Well, I had a great talk with the President of Brazil, who was a good man. I met him actually, at the United Nations, I was going up to make a speech, and I didn't have a teleprompter. I was walking up to my teleprompter. I said, you know, I don't have a teleprompter. But just before that, I met with President Luna, and I found him to be very good. I mean, we had a very good talk for about, you know, two minutes, and then I went up to make a speech, and I was surprised to see, how would you like that one? Doug, I've got every leader in the world sitting out there," he said.
This was their first substantive conversation since the US imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Brazilian goods this summer and a sign that the White House may be looking to de-escalate tensions, Politico reported.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, described it as a "very good telephone call," that covered the economy and trade, among other subjects.
"We will be having further discussions, and will get together in the not-too-distant future, both in Brazil and the United States," Trump said. "I enjoyed the call -- our Countries will do very well together!"
The two spoke for 30 minutes via videoconference, discussed meeting in person and exchanged phone numbers, according to a readout from Lula's office. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad, who addressed Brazilian media after the call, characterised it as "positive," as per Politico.
The effort to mend fences comes after a friendly but brief conversation nearly two weeks ago backstage at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.