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Trump announces 50% tariff on Brazilian goods in letter attacking the Supreme Court and defending Bolsonaro

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Original article by Brasil de Fato republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US President Donald Trump, and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in a Cabinet Meeting. Photo: White House

The billionaire president claimed that trade relations with Brazil are unfair to the US. Lula has called a meeting to discuss a response.

US President Donald Trump has announced that products imported from Brazil will be subject to 50% tariffs starting in August. The application of the tariffs was announced in a letter published on Wednesday, July 9, on social media.

Addressed to the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the message begins with a direct defense of Jair Bolsonaro and criticism of “the way Brazil has been treating the former president”, which he classified as an “international disgrace”.

Referring to the case against Bolsonaro in the Supreme Court (STF), Trump emphasizes: “This trial should not be happening. It is a witch hunt that must end IMMEDIATELY!”

It is worth noting that the US president has no authority over the decisions of the Brazilian judiciary.

In his letter to Lula, he states that the decision on tariffs is based on attacks on free elections and freedom of expression in Brazil.

“(As lately illustrated by the Brazilian Supreme Court, which has issued hundreds of SECRET and UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders to US Social Media platforms, threatening them with Millions of Dollars in Fines and Eviction from the Brazilian Social Media market),” Trump declares.

After the political justification, he adds that trade relations with Brazil are unfair to the United States. However, the trade balance between the two nations has been in surplus for the US for more than ten years.

The percentage announced by Trump for Brazilian products is the highest among those most recently defined by the US government. In the letter, the US president argues that the country should distance itself from its trade relationship with Brazil.

He goes so far as to say that the 50% rate “is far too low” to bring about a level playing field between the two nations. According to Trump, the US Trade Representative’s Office (USTR) will launch an investigation into Brazil under the US Trade Act.

The intention of this type of approach is to determine whether there has been any violation of trade agreements. If irregularities are found, the US may take action through the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In a threatening tone, Trump states that if Brazil decides to take similar measures in response to the new tariff, the US will raise the rate by another 50%. He ends the letter by saying that the decision may be modified upward or downward depending on Brazil’s relationship with the US.

“If you wish to open your heretofore closed Trading Markets to the United States, and eliminate your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter,” he writes.

Reaction

After the letter was released, President Lula called an emergency meeting to discuss Brazil’s response to Trump. According to information released in the press, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, also minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services, Fernando Haddad (Finance), Mauro Vieira (International Relations), and Rui Costa (Chief of Staff) are participating in the meeting.

On social media, Workers’ Party senator and leader of the Senate, Jaques Wagner called for respect for Brazil and criticized the measure, which he attributed to a “request from the Bolsonaro family”.

“At the request of the Bolsonaro family, Donald Trump has announced a 50% tax on all Brazilian products, in an authoritarian and unilateral manner. The US president is confusing who he is addressing. Brazil will not be anyone’s backyard. We are the ones who decide our own lives. Let this be clear: Brazil belongs to Brazilians, not to lackeys!” he posted.

This was first published in Portuguese at Brasil de Fato.

Original article by Brasil de Fato republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingTrump announces 50% tariff on Brazilian goods in letter attacking the Supreme Court and defending Bolsonaro

Lula demands respect for Brazil’s sovereignty after Trump’s statements

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Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva leads the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 6, 2025. Photo: X

New tensions have arisen between the United States and Brazil after Trump claims that former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, an ultra-right-wing leader, is innocent

On July 7, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, published a message on Truth Social defending former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and claiming he has been mistreated and is innocent. Bolsonaro was los reelection in the 2022 elections and later the Supreme Court declared that he was ineligible to serve in public office due to his numerous violations.

Trump wrote: “Brazil is doing a terrible thing on their treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro. I have watched, as has the World, as they have done nothing but come after him, day after day, night after night, month after month, year after year! He is not guilty of anything, except having fought for THE PEOPLE… This is nothing more, or less, than an attack on a Political Opponent — Something I know much about! It happened to me, times 10, and now our Country is the “HOTTEST” in the World! The Great People of Brazil will not stand for what they are doing to their former President.”

He also claimed that the alleged persecution of Bolsonaro is a “witch hunt”: “I’ll be watching the WITCH HUNT of Jair Bolsonaro, his family, and thousands of his supporters, very closely. The only Trial that should be happening is a Trial by the Voters of Brazil — It’s called an Election. LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE!”

In response to these statements, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asserted that the US president’s declaration is interference and that Brazilian sovereignty must be respected. “The defense of democracy in Brazil is a matter for Brazilians. We are a sovereign country,” Lula reminded Trump. “We do not accept interference or tutelage from anyone. We have solid and independent institutions. No one is above the law. Especially those who attack freedom and the rule of law.”

For her part, Brazil’s secretary of state, Gleisi Hoffmann, was more confrontational: 

“Donald Trump is very mistaken if he thinks he can interfere in the Brazilian judicial process. The period when Brazil was subservient to the US was during Bolsonaro’s presidency, when he saluted his flag and failed to defend national interests. Today, he is answering for the crimes he committed against democracy and the electoral process in Brazil. You can’t talk about persecution when a sovereign country complies with due process in the democratic rule of law, which Bolsonaro and his coup plotters have tried to destroy. The US president should take care of his problems, of which there are many, and respect the sovereignty of Brazil and our judiciary.”

Trump’s comments were made while Lula leads the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where the economic bloc denounced “unilateral, punitive, and discriminatory protectionist measures” and called for the strengthening of multilateralism to create a more equitable global order.

What is Bolsonaro accused of?

Former President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023), a longtime friend of Donald Trump, thanked the US president for his support: “I was delighted to receive the note from President Donald Trump. This lawsuit to which I am responding is a legal aberration (Lawfare), clear political persecution, already perceived by everyone with common sense … I thank the illustrious President and friend. You went through something similar … Your struggle for peace, justice, and freedom echoes across the planet. Thank you for existing and for giving us an example of faith and resilience.”

According to the Brazilian justice system, Bolsonaro led, together with several high-ranking military officers and other far-right politicians, an attempt to delegitimize and reverse the electoral results that marked his defeat in October 2022 by the current President Lula da Silva, who obtained 50.9% of the valid votes, to the far-right’s 49.1%. On January 8, 2023, hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the headquarters of the legislative and judicial branches in Brasilia.

The protesters entered the Three Powers Square a week after Lula assumed his mandate as president of the country. Following the declaration of a state of emergency, security forces took several hours to expel Bolsonaro’s supporters, while most governments around the world condemned the incursion.

Read more: Jair Bolsonaro will stand trial for coup attempt

For his part, Bolsonaro has denied his participation in the events, in which, according to the Brazilian justice system, generals Augusto Heleno and Walter Braga (former Secretary of Defense), as well as former Secretaries, Anderson Torres, Augusto Heleno, and the 2022 electoral campaign aide, Mauro Cid, are also involved.

The charges are attempted coup d’état, participation in an armed criminal organization, attempted abolition of the democratic rule of law, aggravated damages, and deterioration of historical heritage. The final decision of justice will be known in the coming months and will surely affect the political future of the Amazonian nation.

Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingLula demands respect for Brazil’s sovereignty after Trump’s statements

‘Matter of Life and Death’: New Tracker Exposes Trump Regime’s Attack on Disaster Preparedness

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Original article by Brad Reed republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Flood waters inundate the main street after Hurricane Helene passed offshore on September 27, 2024 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“It’s only a matter of time before Trump and Musk’s reckless assault on disaster response and preparedness kills people in the United States,” said a researcher with government watchdog The Revolving Door Project.

President Donald Trump has openly stated his desire to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency—a move that has left some experts fearful about how the United States will handle natural disasters such as hurricanes in the coming months.

The Revolving Door Project, a government watchdog group, has now put together a tracking tool to keep tabs on how much the administration’s attacks on both FEMA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have worsened the nation’s disaster preparedness.

The tool has two components: An interactive map showing all of the state disaster aid requests that the Trump administration has outright denied or only partially approved and an interactive timeline documenting all of the times that the administration has undermined the functionality of America’s disaster preparedness agencies through actions such as placing agency employees on administrative leave and disbanding key bodies such as FEMA’s National Advisory Council and its National Dam Safety Review Board.

All of these disruptions and cuts, argued Revolving Door Project senior researcher Kenny Stancil, are likely to come back to bite America in a big way when another natural disaster strikes.

“It’s only a matter of time before Trump and Musk’s reckless assault on disaster response and preparedness kills people in the United States,” he said in explaining the need for the initiative. “It nearly happened in mid-May in Kentucky, where a DOGE-damaged NWS forecast office had to scramble for staff before a tornado. Amid last week’s heatwave, low-income households across the country were missing the federal support they need to keep the air conditioning on. And when a major hurricane arrives, Trump, Musk, OMB Director Russell Vought, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem will almost certainly have blood on their hands.”

Revolving Door Project executive director Jeff Hauser issued a similarly dire warning about the administration’s actions on U.S. disaster preparedness and he described the actions being taken by the administration as “a matter of life-and-death.” He also accused the administration of “preventing forecasters and emergency managers at all levels from doing what is necessary to prepare for and respond to disasters.”

Trump in the past has tried to use federal disaster relief money as a cudgel against his political opponents, such as when he threatened to withhold funding from California during catastrophic wildfires unless the state did a better job of “raking” its forests.

Original article by Brad Reed republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Continue Reading‘Matter of Life and Death’: New Tracker Exposes Trump Regime’s Attack on Disaster Preparedness

Israel at 77: A fragile state propped up by American power

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters attend a demonstration to mark the 77th anniversary of the Nakba on 17th May 2025 in London, United Kingdom. [Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images]

by Adnan Hmidan

More than 77 years since the Zionist project was planted at the heart of the Arab and Islamic world, and despite enjoying unprecedented military, political and financial support from the West, particularly the United States, Israel remains a fragile entity. For all the rhetoric portraying it as a military and technological powerhouse, its survival still hinges on foreign intervention.

Since 1948, Western powers have mobilised every instrument available, politics, capital, science, and brute military force, to uphold this settler-colonial project. Thousands of Jewish experts and professionals were brought in from Europe, America and the former Soviet Union, while billions were poured into building a state on the ruins of an indigenous population, denied basic rights simply because Palestinians weren’t considered “white enough” to deserve them.

Over the decades, Israel has amassed a formidable arsenal: unregulated nuclear weapons, the Iron Dome missile defence system, and surveillance technologies exported to repressive regimes around the world. Its intelligence services have trained authoritarian states from Latin America to Africa, turning the occupation into a global model for control.

Yet the illusion is wearing thin.

Since the launch of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation in October 2023, Israel’s vulnerability has been laid bare. This is not a self-reliant regional power, it is an entirely dependent project. It cannot endure prolonged resistance without American military support, European political cover, and consistent Western economic backing.

During its latest assault on Gaza, Israel relied heavily on US ammunition, airlifts, and naval deployment. Against Iran, it proved unable to act independently, requiring Washington to step in on its behalf. Just this week, the United States bombed Iranian nuclear sites, including the Fordow facility, in what appeared to be a direct request from Tel Aviv; a dangerous escalation that threatens to ignite a wider regional war.

One is forced to question: What kind of “regional power” needs a global superpower to fight its battles? What kind of sovereignty is that?

READ: Gaza will not be defeated as long as there are people who refuse to stay silent

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israel continues a policy of violent erasure; assassinations, home demolitions, mass arrests, and the systematic punishment of prisoners and their families. In Gaza, we are witnessing a genocide: famine, siege, and the total destruction of life and infrastructure.

Even the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque has been violated. The compound has seen unprecedented closures, its prayer halls raided by night, copies of the Quran desecrated, and its guards detained, while much of the international community remains silent, if not complicit.

But what Israel fails to grasp is this: resistance is not confined to rockets. It is an idea, rooted, growing, and passed down through generations. From Gaza to the West Bank, and from Sana’a to Tehran, new alliances are taking shape. Palestine’s voice now echoes from Chicago to Cape Town.

Yes, Israel has a missile defence system, but it has no moral shield. Yes, it can carry out precision airstrikes, but it cannot destroy the idea of freedom that lives in the hearts of millions.

Seventy-seven years on, Israel still behaves like a spoilt, unruly child, forever looking to its powerful patron for protection. It lacks true independence, genuine sovereignty, and any sense of lasting security.

It is a heavily armed entity with a hollow centre. A state upheld not by legitimacy or justice, but by coercion and propaganda.

And that is why it will fall. Because ideas do not die. Because justice delayed is not justice denied. And because Palestine lives, in the ruins, in the camps, in memory, and in the future.

So the “state” that never matured will fall. And Palestine will endure, because it is the wound that never dried, and the truth that never fades.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Vote Labour for Genocide.
Vote Labour for Genocide.
Continue ReadingIsrael at 77: A fragile state propped up by American power

Iran Targets Qatar Base Used by US Military in Retaliation for Unprovoked Trump Attack

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Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

This United States Air Force photo shows an aerial view of al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. (Photo: Scott Reed/USAF)

Sources also said Iran launched at least one missile at a U.S. base in Iraq.

Loud explosions were heard over Qatar’s capital Doha Monday as Iran launched missiles targeting a military base in the Gulf nation used by U.S. forces and another American installation in Iraq in retaliation for last week’s illegal and unprovoked bombing of Iranian civilian nuclear strikes ordered by President Donald Trump.

An unnamed Israeli source told Axios that at least 10 missiles were launched toward Qatar and one at Iraq. The attack on Qatar targeted al-Udeid Air Base, located approximately 20 miles outside Doha. More than 8,000 U.S. troops are stationed at al-Udeid, which also hosts Qatari, British, and other forces.

Iranian officials said they launched the same quantity of missiles as the number of bombs used in the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites on Saturday.

Iran fires ballistic missiles at US military bases in Qatar.Explosions seen over Doha.The US deployed THAAD systems in Qatar in anticipation of Iranian attacks.

[image or embed]
— Adam Schwarz (@adamjschwarz.bsky.social) June 23, 2025 at 9:48 AM

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that “following the blatant military aggression of the criminal regime of the United States of America against the peaceful nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the clear violation of international law” IRCG “has targeted the Al-Udeid base in Qatar with a devastating and powerful missile attack.”

An announcement on Iranian state media called the attack “a mighty and successful response by the armed forces of Iran to America’s aggression.”

However, there have not yet been any reports of casualties or damage at al-Udeid or any other U.S. base. There have also not been any reports of U.S. military response.

The New York Times reported that Iran warned the U.S. of the imminent attack. Iran’s apparently symbolic retaliation was similar to Tehran’s response to the 2020 Trump-ordered assassination of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani and likely meant to give both sides a deescalatory offramp, experts said.

The Qatari Ministry of Defense said the country’s air defenses “successfully intercepted a missile attack targeting al-Udeid Air Base.”

Qatar, which enjoys good relations with Tehran, condemned the Iranian attack and stressed that it “reserves the right” to respond “directly” and “in line with international law.”

Monday’s developments came amid Israel’s ongoing U.S.-backed wars on Iran and Palestine and Iran’s retaliatory missile strikes on Israel.

Responding to the Iranian retaliation, Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said on X that “there is a scenario, similar to the 2020 strikes against Iraqi bases, in which both sides call it quits after one round of fire.”

“But I find that scenario unstable because of the Israeli element,” he continued. “Israel will continue to strike Iran and vice versa, and as long as that is the case, the Israelis will continue to put relentless pressure on Trump to join the war in various ways.”

“None of this would have happened had Trump rejected the first step that Israel pushed him to take—shifting his red line to ‘zero enrichment,'” Parsi asserted. “That misstep deliberately set up a cascade of events that predictably led to this current war.”

“Trump’s only exit out of this is to discard the Israeli red line of zero-enrichment and return to the American red line of no weaponization,” he added.

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue ReadingIran Targets Qatar Base Used by US Military in Retaliation for Unprovoked Trump Attack