Trump and Lula Hold Three-Hour White House Meeting, Agree to Negotiate Trade Disputes

US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met at the White House in Washington on Thursday and greeted each other there. The two leaders spent around three hours together in a private Oval Office meeting held away from the spotlight. Trump showed Lula around the White House grounds, according to images released by the Brazilian government.

There was no joint Oval Office press appearance after the Trump-Lula meeting. Trump usually turns White House visits with foreign leaders into lengthy informal press conferences. The absence of such an event could indicate that important disagreements remain unresolved, @BBCWorld reported.

Trump posted on Truth Social that the meeting had been "very good" and called Lula "dynamic". Lula said he left the meeting "very satisfied". " Brazil proposed a working group to negotiate any trade disagreements within 30 days.

Lula said: "Whoever is wrong will give in. If we have to give in, we will. " The two governments still disagree on key issues such as crime, and they are especially far apart on trade, @BBCWorld reported.

The US lifted sanctions against a Brazilian judge in the Bolsonaro case. Trump has pushed Lula to drop charges against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Jair Bolsonaro was convicted of an attempted coup and sentenced to 27 years in prison last year.

Brazil's Congress approved a plan to drastically cut Bolsonaro's jail term. Brazil's former spy chief was released from ICE detention. The meeting came at a delicate time, with Lula seeking re-election in October and US midterms scheduled for November.

Trump and Lula met at the UN General Assembly in New York in September. Dawisson Belém Lopes, professor of International Relations at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, said the Thursday meeting marked a change in the White House's strategy towards Brazil after months of tension and public confrontations. "This meeting signals the arrival of a new moment in bilateral relations," he said.

The meeting was held away from the spotlight, according to Dawisson Belém Lopes. Oliver Stuenkel, associate professor of international relations at Fundação Getulio Vargas in São Paulo, said the length of the meeting around three hours may indicate an effort to build a personal relationship between Trump and Lula. Daniel Bush is BBC News Washington Correspondent.