Lula says he will go to UN to tell Trump to ‘stay out’ of Brazil’s elections

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday he will tell US president Donald Trump “not to meddle in Brazil’s elections” next week during the United Nations General Assembly.

The left-wing leader is slated to give his speech Tuesday at the annual global leadership meeting in New York, where he could run into his US counterpart, who is an ally to his rival in October’s election, right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro.

“I’m going to the UN meeting to have a conversation with Trump and tell him: don’t meddle in the elections in Brazil,” Lula said during a campaign stop in Ceilandia, a working-class neighbourhood in the capital Brasilia.

Brazilian foreign ministry official Carlos Bicalho Cozendey said Wednesday that “no specific bilateral meeting” is planned for Lula and Trump, but they “will probably cross paths at the Assembly” like they did last year.

The United States imposed two fresh rounds of tariffs on Brazilian products in July, which Lula denounced as an attempt to influence the elections with economic pressure.

Tensions with the Trump administration began in 2025, when Washington implemented its first wave of tariffs against Brazil in retaliation over the trial of former far-right president and Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro – Flavio’s father, who was convicted of attempting a coup d’etat.