Lula, who is set to meet another leftist critic of Trump, Spanish Prime ​Minister Pedro Sanchez, on Friday in Barcelona, called the U.S. president's approach to ⁠foreign policy "a ⁠very misguided game" driven ⁠by the ​assumption that Washington's military and economic power allows it to set the rules.

Investigation centres on whether Bolsonaro committed defamation by linking Lula to crimes like drug trafficking.