Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that his American counterpart Donald Trump was not elected to be the "emperor of the world" but the president of the United States.
In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Lula slammed Trump for slapping Brazil with a 50% tariff due to the country's prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro over an alleged coup plot. "The judiciary branch of power in Brazil is independent. The president of the Republic has no influence whatsoever," Lula explained and added that Bolsonaro is "not being judged personally. He is being judged by the acts he tried to organize a coup d'etat."
The Brazilian president also noted that he first thought that Trump's posts about the tariffs and a "witch hunt" against Bolsonaro were "fake news," adding the news was "very unpleasant." He stressed that Brazil will "not accept anything imposed on it" and will seek negotiations.
