Bromance Blooms Between Trump and Brazil’s New Populist President

President Donald Trump has exchanged a series of supportive messages with Brazil’s new populist president, Jair Bolsonaro, who was inaugurated on January 1.

In a tweet Tuesday, Mr. Trump expressed congratulations to Mr. Bolsonaro for his “great inauguration speech” while assuring the new leader “the U.S.A. is with you!”

Congratulations to President @JairBolsonaro who just made a great inauguration speech – the U.S.A. is with you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2019

President Bolsonaro responded in kind, expressing his deep appreciation for Trump’s words of encouragement.

“Together, under God’s protection, we shall bring prosperity and progress to our people!” he said.

Dear Mr. President @realDonalTrump, I truly appreciate your words of encouragement. Together, under God’s protection, we shall bring prosperity and progress to our people! https://t.co/dplAFNJGdA

— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) January 1, 2019

Last October, President Trump had already congratulated Mr. Bolsonaro by telephone for his historic victory as the first conservative president of Brazil in many years after the populist leader defeated his socialist opponent, Fernando Haddad, by taking more than 55 percent of the vote.

During the “very good” phone conversation, the two men “agreed that Brazil and the United States will work closely together on Trade, Military and everything else! Excellent call, wished him congrats!” Trump tweeted.

Had a very good conversation with the newly elected President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, who won his race by a substantial margin. We agreed that Brazil and the United States will work closely together on Trade, Military and everything else! Excellent call, wished him congrats!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2018

On that occasion, Bolsonaro echoed the U.S. president’s assessment of the new partnership, saying that both men “desire to bring these two great nations closer together and to advance on the path of freedom and prosperity!”

In his inaugural address Tuesday, Mr. Bolsonaro said that Brazil has now been “liberated from Socialism and political correctness” after his election.

I will fight the “ideology of gender” in schools, respect “our Judeo-Christian tradition,” and “prepare children for the job market, not political militancy,” he promised.

On Wednesday, Bolsonaro continued his assault on his socialist opponents, tweeting (in English) that one of the strategies of Brazil’s new administration is to help the nation climb from the “lowest spots of the educational rankings” by tackling the “Marxist garbage” in Brazil’s schools head-on.

“We shall succeed in forming citizens and not political militants,” he said.

Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome