President Donald Trump announced his intention to raise the status of US-Brazilian relations during a joint press conference with the leader of the South American state Zhair Bolshonaro in the Rose Garden of the White House.
US President Donald Trump declared that he plans to officially recognize Brazil as “the largest ally of the United States outside NATO.” After that, he promised that in the near future “will hold talks” on the possible admission of the South American state in the Atlantic Alliance. The sympathy of the head of the White House, most likely, was caused personally by Brazilian President Zhair Bolshonaro, who in many respects tried to resemble Donald Trump.
President Bolsonaro, who took office in early January of this year, is considered an extremely right-wing politician who has repeatedly made scornful comments about women, immigrants and members of sexual minorities. During the election campaign, he also stated that his “idol and role model” was the president of the United States, and Zhair Bolsonaro himself even received the nickname “Trump from the Tropics”.
During the final press conference, President Donald Trump announced that he was going to officially grant Brazil the status of “the largest non-NATO ally”:
“It is quite possible, if you think about it, to give the status of a NATO member,” the head of the White House added, adding that for this he needs to “conduct negotiations with a large number of people.”
Currently, the only Latin American country affiliated with the alliance is Colombia, which received the status of a “global partner” of the military-political bloc. This status implies that the state is not obliged to participate in NATO military operations.
According to the President of the United States, recognition of Brazil as “the largest ally” will allow “to bring security cooperation between the two countries to a new level”:
“President Bolsonaro, I promise that we will hold the consultations and negotiations necessary for this,” said Donald Trump. “We will work to solve the problems facing our countries.”
