WASHINGTON, United States, May 6, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will meet US President Donald Trump on Thursday, a White House official said, in only the second encounter between the two leaders with a history of rocky relations.

"President Trump will host President Lula for a working visit this Thursday. They will discuss economic and security matters of shared importance," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity Tuesday.

A source in the Brazilian presidency had told AFP earlier that a meeting was likely.

Trump and Lula have met only once before, in Malaysia last year. A second meeting planned in Washington earlier this year did not take place.

Lula, 80, and Trump, 79, stand on polar opposite sides on issues such as multilateralism, international trade and the fight against climate change.

Relations had thawed after their Malaysia meeting, which led to the lifting of punitive tariffs imposed by Washington on Brazil.

But Lula has been outspoken against Trump's government, from its ouster of former president Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela to the war in Iran.

Trump is a key ally of imprisoned former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, whose eldest son Flavio is seen as Lula's main rival in an October presidential election.