Trump Wades into Brazil’s Campaign (Again)

Nearly a year after slapping Brazil with a 50% tariff in what looked like a bid to help the Bolsonaro family, the U.S.-Brazil relationship has had several ups and downs: Trump dropped most of the tariffs and, about a month ago, he welcomed President Lula to the White House for what looked like a friendly visit. But now, it looks like ties between the hemisphere's two biggest democracies are on the rocks once again. Within days of a visit by Flávio Bolsonaro to the State Department, the Trump administration designated two Brazilian criminal organizations as foreign terrorist groups and recommended new tariffs on Brazilian goods. Today on the podcast, we try to make sense of it all: What Washington is actually trying to accomplish in Brazil, whether these measures risk backfiring as they did last year, and what the October election looks like from inside the campaign. Our guest is Chris Garman, Managing Director for the Americas at Eurasia Group.