BRASILIA - Brazil will not bow down to the United States, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday, countering the claim by his US counterpart Donald Trump that Brazil is "a horrible trading partner."

"It is a lie when the US president says that Brazil is a bad trading partner. Brazil is good, it just won't bow down to the US government," Lula said during an event in the northeast state of Pernambuco.

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Earlier in the day, Trump said Brazil is a "horrible trading partner," calling the trial against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro a "political execution."

Lula said that "democracy is judging Bolsonaro."