Trump cements alliance with Brazil

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump welcomed Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for a visit Tuesday and declared he would designate the country a “major non-NATO ally,” allowing it to purchase U.S. weapons. Trump also said he would consider granting Brazil full NATO membership, though the Latin American country is likely ineligible to join the North Atlantic alliance.

The trip to Washington was Bolsonaro’s first bilateral visit overseas and the first time the two leaders have met in person. Bolsonaro has said he admires Trump, and news outlets often compare the two leaders’ speaking and leadership styles. Trump said they discussed trade, economic cooperation, security, and the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. As a sign of friendship, they also exchanged soccer jerseys from their national teams.

In a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden, Bolsonaro predicted Trump would win reelection in 2020 and said the two countries “stand side by side in their efforts to ensure liberties and respect to traditional family lifestyles, respect to God, our Creator, against the gender ideology of the politically correct attitudes and fake news.”

Trump later remarked, “I’m very proud to hear the president use the term ‘fake news.’”