Trump, who headed to Japan from Malaysia, also said he and Lula “had a great meeting” on Sunday.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Tokyo. “They’d like to do a deal.”
“I think we should be able to make some good deals for both countries,” Trump had said after meeting Lula.
According to Lula, he presented Trump with a written document outlining arguments against the U.S. tariff hikes that Lula said acknowledged the United States has the right to impose the measures, its move was based on “mistaken information.”
Trump didn’t commit to suspending the tariff hikes, nor raised any conditions during their talks, Lula said.
“He guaranteed to me that we will reach an agreement,” Lula told a news conference, speaking through an interpreter. “I am very confident that in a few days we will reach a solution.”
He also noted that Bolsonaro had been given a fair trial, and that his case should not factor in their trade negotiations.
“Bolsonaro is part of the past now in Brazilian history” he said.
Lula said he also offered to help mediate the crisis in Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro has accused the U.S. of fabricating a war against him after Washington sent the world’s biggest warship towards his country.
Lula, who marked his 80th birthday on Monday, said he felt at a high point of his life and that he hopes to live up to 120 years old. He was in Kuala Lumpur to attend annual summits held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a guest of chair Malaysia, which hopes to deepen the region’s trade links with Latin America.
From aboard Air Force One, the 79-year-old Trump also wished Lula a happy birthday, describing the Brazilian president as “a very vigorous guy.”
“I was very impressed,” Trump said.
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Associated Press writer Christopher Megerian in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.
