🌊 Trump’s Plot to Control Brazil

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By Max Frost

Last week, President Trump announced a shock 50% tariff on Brazil, citing a “witch hunt” against the country’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro. Yet the situation is bigger than any one man: In today’s deep-dive, we explore what Trump actually wants from Brazil and how the tariffs relate to the foreign policy idea of “hemispheric control.”

Earlier this month, Brazil was hosting the annual summit of BRICS, a bloc whose core members are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. MAGA commentators spent the months ahead of the meeting warning that the bloc was seeking to undermine the US-led economic order. Specifically, they warned, BRICS wanted to replace the dollar.

Those raising the alarm included Steve Bannon, a key Trump strategist who hosts the influential “War Room” podcast.

To Bannon, BRICS is not just another group of economies, and Brazil is not just another country. Rather, he described BRICS as a China-led tool for undermining American power – and Brazil as the linchpin to that strategy in the Americas.

This idea goes back two centuries, to when President James Monroe declared that the US would consider any foreign intervention in the politics of the Americas as a potentially hostile act. This precept – the Monroe Doctrine – guided American foreign policy in the years to come, particularly in the 1900s.

Fast forward to 2025: Bannon and other MAGA minds say the US has lost this privileged position, pointing to anti-American policies in places like Brazil and Venezuela. In recent years, Brazil has expressed support for establishing a BRICS currency to replace the dollar, Venezuela’s government has facilitated drug trafficking into the US, and Chinese companies have operated part of the Panama Canal. 

Trump-aligned thinkers, from Bannon to Tucker Carlson, have described this as a result of the US overstretching itself in Europe and the Middle East. The solution is to refocus on the Western Hemisphere to shore up the US’ global position and establish “hemispheric control.”

Editor’s Note

Thanks for reading, and let us know what you think about today’s article. We’re especially curious to hear from our Brazilian readers. Send in your thoughts here.

And if you’re looking for some weekend reading, find our latest stories below:

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Have fantastic weekends, and we’ll see you tomorrow.

—Max and Max