The meeting between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday lasted nearly three hours — far longer than the scheduled 45 minutes — and concluded with the American president calling his Brazilian counterpart “a very dynamic leader” and the discussions “very productive.” Yet beneath the cordial postings on Truth Social, the encounter was a carefully calibrated exercise in damage control and realpolitik, with both sides securing tactical gains while deferring the hardest decisions.

Viewed from Brasília, the primary objective was to contain the commercial and political fallout from Trump’s return to office. The United States has imposed tariffs on Brazilian steel and aluminium, opened an investigation into the PIX instant-payment system, and — most gallingly for Lula’s team — maintained quiet channels with allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro, including his son Flávio. The Brazilian delegation pressed for a framework to resolve trade disputes and pushed back against any suggestion that Washington might use the 2026 presidential election as a lever. Lula also sought to keep the definition of Brazilian organised-crime groups as “terrorist organisations” off the table, proposing instead a bilateral task force on drug trafficking and money-laundering.

For Trump, the calculus was different. Washington’s overriding interest lies in securing access to Brazil’s vast reserves of rare-earth minerals and other critical resources, seen as essential for reducing dependence on Chinese supply chains. Administration officials had floated a minerals-for-investment deal in February, and the topic dominated the working lunch, which featured grilled beef fillet and black-bean purée — a nod to Brazilian cuisine. Security cooperation also featured, with both sides agreeing to deepen intelligence-sharing on transnational crime. Yet no formal accord was signed; instead, negotiators were instructed to continue talks in the coming months.

The absence of a joint press conference — cancelled at the Brazilian side’s request — spoke volumes. In Washington, the preference was for a low-key “working visit” that allowed Trump to avoid uncomfortable questions about his administration’s interventionist streak in Latin America. Analysts in London noted that the meeting was essentially a tactical truce between two leaders who mistrust each other but recognise mutual need: Lula needs export stability and political insulation; Trump needs strategic minerals and a show of hemispheric leadership ahead of the midterms.

Forward-looking assessments remain cautious. The two presidents have agreed to keep channels open, but the underlying frictions — over tariffs, the PIX probe, and US sympathies for Bolsonaro’s camp — have not been resolved. What this summit achieved was a reset of diplomatic temperature, not a transformation of the relationship. For Lula, the optics of a cordial handshake with Trump may prove valuable at home, where he faces a tough re-election fight. For Trump, the encounter buys time to extract concessions on minerals without escalating a trade war with South America’s largest economy. The real test will come in the follow-up meetings, where the rhetoric of a “very good” meeting must translate into deliverables.