May 9 (UPI) -- Ahead of a U.S. visit by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonro next week, President Donald Trump has designated the South American nation a major non-NATO ally.

Trump previously said he favored Brazil joining NATO and has been a proponent of Bolsonaro's. Wednesday, the U.S. president declared in a memo to Congress Brazil's new status as a major non-NATO ally -- the 18th nation to receive that label from the United States.

"I am making this designation in recognition of the Government of Brazil's recent commitments to increase defense cooperation with the United States, and in recognition of our own national interest in deepening our defense coordination with Brazil," Trump said in a statement.

The designation is given to non-NATO-affiliated foreign governments considered by the United States a key strategic military partner. Tunisia was the last to receive the designation for its counter-terrorism work with American forces.

Bolsonaro will visit the United States next week, in a trip to Dallas. He was supposed to visit New York City to accept a Person of the Year award from the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, but controversial policies and statements caused activists to protest. The American Museum of Natural History ultimately canceled plans to host a black tie gala for Bolsonaro.

Spokesman Rego Barros said some U.S. cities "do not know how to take advantage of the good democratic environment in the United States, and therefore, Bolsonaro will visit another city within the country."

"Our president has already received several invitations from other [U.S.] states that ensure he will be honored properly when he arrives there," he added. </s> Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has stated that his sentiment for US President Donald Trump is growing more intense, the website Brazil 247 reported.

"After that compliment from Trump yesterday, I'm more and more in love with him", he said after Trump's speech about US-Brazilian relations.

The US president earlier expressed hope of reaching a free trade agreement with Brazil and complimented Bolsonaro, noting that Brazil is already a "big trading partner" for the United States. Trump, however, complained that the country has imposed "a lot of tariffs" on US goods.

Bolsonaro previously stated that he was considering appointing his son, lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, as Brazilian ambassador to the United States.

In June, Bolsonaro said that he supported Trump's 2020 re-election bid during a meeting between the two at the G20 summit in the Japanese city of Osaka. </s> President Donald Trump will designate Brazil assays Trump's notification to the Congress.Trump announced the decision in a White House press release on Wednesday. As a non-NATO ally,Seventeen other countries, including Israel, Japan, South Korea and Australia hold equivalent status.Trump also announced back in March that he was "very strongly" considering NATO membership for Brazil, during a visit from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to the White House.NATO leadership is a little cooler towards the idea of Brazilian integration. Secretary-General of the alliance Jens Stoltenberg said last week thatNATO is currently made up of 29 full-fledged member states, and a handful of so-called "aspiring members," including Ukraine and Georgia.Bolsonaro rose to power last October as an unabashed admirer of President Trump, and his trip to Washington this year was the right-wing leader's first trip abroad for a bilateral meeting. Since taking office, Bolsonaro has remained a supporter of American foreign policy, following Washington's lead in recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido's claim to the country's presidency, and coordinating a politically-loaded humanitarian shipment to Venezuela with the US. </s> Brazil's President-elect, Jair Bolsonaro, confirmed Thursday that he intends to move his country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

"As previously stated during our campaign, we intend to transfer the Brazilian Embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel is a sovereign state and we shall duly respect that," he wrote in a Facebook post.

If Bolsonaro keeps this campaign promise, Brazil will be the third country to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, after the United States and Guatemala.

Bolsonaro was elected as Brazil's next president on Oct.28 and plans to take office on Jan. 1.

President Donald Trump congratulated Bolsonaro on his win on Twitter this week.

"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!" Trump tweeted. </s> BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The Latest on President Donald Trump at the Group of 20 summit (all times local):

President Donald Trump is meeting Argentine President Mauricio Macri as he kicks off two days of diplomacy at the G-20 meeting.

The leaders greeted each other warmly Friday as the annual meeting of leaders from rich and developing nations opened in Buenos Aires. Trump spoke about his longtime personal friendship with Macri and said they would discuss trade, military purchases and other issues.

Macri is hosting his counterparts as he struggles with a raft of domestic issues, including trying to halt economic turmoil that has caused the steep depreciation of the Argentine peso.

Trump and Macri enjoy a personal relationship dating back to their days as businessman.

Macri visited the White House soon after Trump took office in 2017.

President Donald Trump is blasting the investigation in which his former lawyer pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a Moscow real estate deal he pursued for Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Michael Cohen says he lied to be consistent with Trump's "political messaging." Trump says Cohen is lying now.

In a tweet Friday from Argentina, Trump recalled "happily living" his life as a developer before running for president after seeing the "Country going in the wrong direction."

Trump says "Against all odds" he decided to run for president and continue to run his business, which he calls "very legal & very cool." He says he "talked about it on the campaign trail."

Trump tweets he "Lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn't do the project. Witch Hunt!"

President Trump kicks off two days of diplomacy at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina on Friday after his abrupt decision to cancel a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin overshadowed the proceedings before they even started.

Trump barreled into the two-day meeting by announcing via Twitter that he was canceling on Putin over Russia's seizure of Ukrainian vessels. His agenda Friday is expected to include meetings with world leaders, the signing of a revamped trade deal with Canada and Mexico, as well as a number of group activities for the gathering of rich and developing nations.

Coming into this G-20, Trump faces a series of diplomatic challenges — most notably whether he can strike an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng) to ease trade tensions.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> The inauguration of former army Captain turned congressman Jair Bolsonaro was held today in Brazil; delivering the first nationalist outlook to the office of the presidency in decades.

President Jair Bolsonaro and First-Lady of Brazil Michelle Bolsonaro both delivered speeches during the inauguration ceremony, with the first lady also using sign language (her father is deaf).

President Bolsonaro now takes the reins of Latin America’s largest and most populous nation after decades of corruption carried out by Brazil’s far-left politicians. Many will remember a failed assassination attempt on candidate Bolsonaro by opposition from the socialist workers party only a few weeks before the election. Bolsonaro has vowed to end business-as-usual governing which led to rampant corruption.

Many people within the far-left ridiculed Bolsonaro while he was a congressman and stated his Brazil-First outlook was too nationalistic amid a world now driven by global influence. The marginalization by those voices failed and now President Bolsonaro will likely chart a different course. (Sound familiar?)

There are many similarities in national outlook between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Bolsonaro especially regarding economics and trade. Additionally, following a similar decision by President Trump, Brazil will now move their Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.

Overall the U.S. Brazil relationship could make for an interesting alignment in South/Latin America; this relationship will become particularly important around the geopolitical strategy and influence of China in the region.

The 63-year-old President campaigned heavily on an anti-corruption, Brazil-first, nationalist agenda and promised to support gun ownership rights for law-abiding people within Brazil. Both Trump and Bolsonaro are opposed by the same groups. </s> Brazil's far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro confirmed on Thursday the country will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, making the Latin American country the largest after the United States to make the controversial switch.

The move from Tel Aviv, which would be defiance of the wishes of Palestinians and the geopolitical view of the region held by most of the rest of the world, is the latest controversial announcement by the former army captain, who has wasted no time in implementing his hardline conservative agenda since his election win on Sunday.

"As previously stated during our campaign, we intend to transfer the Brazilian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel is a sovereign state and we shall duly respect that," Mr Bolsonaro tweeted.

The move squarely aligns Mr Bolsonaro with US President Donald Trump, and bolsters his image as a "Tropical Trump."

Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, while the Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption President Bolsonaro calls for an end of corruption in his inauguration speech

Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has used his inaugural speech to promise to build a "society without discrimination or division".

The former army captain told Congress he wanted a "national pact" to free Brazil of corruption, crime and economic mismanagement.

In a swipe at the left, he vowed to free Brazil of "ideology".

He is seen as a deeply divisive figure whose racist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks have angered many.

Mr Bolsonaro, 63, won the presidential election by a wide margin against Fernando Haddad of the left-wing Workers' Party on 28 October.

He was propelled to victory by campaign promises to curb Brazil's rampant corruption and crime.

US President Donald Trump commended him for his speech on Tuesday, saying the US was "with" him.

Among the foreign guests at the inauguration were US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

'Bromance with Trump'

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mr Bolsonaro arrived at Congress with his wife Michelle

Analysis by Katy Watson, BBC News, Brasilia

Jair Bolsonaro may have struck a more presidential tone in today's speeches compared with the fiery rhetoric used during his campaign, but he made it clear his values remained the same - family, conservatism and God.

And despite having won the elections, he's not given up his criticism of Brazil's leftist politics that he feels have ruined the country. The rhetoric he used was familiar - that from today Brazilians are now freed from socialism - and it strikes a chord with millions fed up with corruption scandals that have embroiled Brazilian politics in recent years.

With Donald Trump and the so-called "Trump of the Tropics" exchanging tweets about their mutual support for each other and commitment to work together, the bromance with one of the world's most powerful presidents has begun. It's a relationship that everyone will be watching very closely.

What exactly did Bolsonaro promise?

"Brazil will return to being a country free of ideological constrictions," he told Congress in the capital, Brasilia.

"I will divide power in a progressive, conscientious and responsible way."

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Guards were on duty in ceremonial dress at the Congress for the inauguration

His administration, he said, was "committed to those Brazilians who want good schools to prepare their kids for the job market and not for political militancy".

Pledging support for the military and police, he said: "The national motto is order and progress. No society can develop without respecting these."

On the economy, he promised to "create a new virtuous cycle to open markets" and "carry out important structural reforms" to tackle the public deficit.

In an apparent reference to gun control, he said: "Good citizens deserve the means to defend themselves." On Saturday, he tweeted that he would issue a decree to allow citizens who did not have a criminal record to own guns.

Image copyright EPA Image caption A giant figure of Mr Bolsonaro was erected for the inauguration in Brasilia

After being sworn in in front of Congress, Mr Bolsonaro went on to the Planalto Palace where the outgoing President, Michel Temer, handed over the presidential sash.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Jair Bolsonaro gestures after receiving the presidential sash

Speaking afterwards, he said Brazil would "start to free itself of socialism" and "political correctness".

On a day filled with pageant, he travelled around Brasilia in an open-top vintage Rolls Royce escorted by cavalry on white horses and jogging security guards, as crowds of supporters cheered.

"I came here just for the inauguration," supporter Antonio Vendramin told AFP.

"I made a lot of money and saved money to buy the ticket, to be able to buy the plane ticket because it's a long way to come by car but we managed to make it all the way to be here on this day for President Bolsonaro's inauguration. We're full of pride."

Who is Bolsonaro?

Despite portraying himself as a political outsider during his campaign, Mr Bolsonaro served seven terms in Brazil's lower house of Congress, the Chamber of Deputies, before being elected president.

He has been a member of several political parties but is currently in the Social Liberal Party (PSL), which has grown from having a tiny presence in Congress to becoming the party with the second largest number of deputies in the lower house.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Firefighters kept Bolsonaro followers cool outside the presidential palace in Brasilia

Before becoming a politician, Mr Bolsonaro served in Brazil's military, where he was a paratrooper and rose to the rank of captain.

During the election race in September, he was stabbed at a rally and seriously injured, taking more than a month to recover.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Bolsonaro has chosen ex-military officers for many key government posts

During his time as a lawmaker, Mr Bolsonaro represented the interests of the armed forces and since his election he has named seven former military men to head key ministries.

He has also expressed nostalgia for the time when Brazil was under military rule and the hard-line policies enforced during the period, which saw thousands jailed and tortured.

Why did his election cause such a stir?

Brazil only returned to democracy in 1985 after more than 20 years under military rule, and some critics see his election as a threat to the country's democracy.

Previous comments he has made endorsing the use of torture and disparaging women, gay people and Afro-Brazilians have left many Brazilians worried.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Why are same-sex couples in Brazil rushing to get married?

The election campaign which brought him to power has left the country deeply divided into those who see him as the man to put Brazil on to the right track after massive corruption scandals, and those who fear he could lead Brazil into an authoritarian future.

What are his key policies?

Mr Bolsonaro's promise to drive down crime and stamp out corruption comes after scores of top businessmen and high-ranking politicians, including former left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, were jailed.

Days after being elected, he picked Brazil's most famous anti-corruption judge, Sergio Moro, as his minister of justice.

Mr Moro was the key force behind the massive "Car Wash" corruption investigation.

There was concern among environmentalists when Mr Bolsonaro suggested during the election campaign that the ministry of agriculture might be merged with that of the environment.

But he has backtracked on that and also revoked a pledge to quit the Paris climate accord, which sets targets for cutting greenhouse gases.

How will Brazil's international relations be affected?

Mr Bolsonaro has been very clear about who he considers to be his international allies and those he views as foes.

Mr Trump is "an example" to him, and Mr Bolsonaro has promised to follow the US lead and relocate Brazil's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Mr Bolsonaro visited a synagogue with Benjamin Netanyahu in Rio

Mr Bolsonaro has accused Cuba of holding back some of the salaries paid to Cuban doctors working in Brazil, prompting Cuba to pull out its doctors in retaliation. </s> U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he wants to pursue a trade agreement with Brazil, opening the door to a possible resolution over an ongoing trade dispute between the two nations.

WASHINGTON/BRASILIA: President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he will pursue a U.S. trade agreement with Brazil, suggesting a friendly relationship with President Jair Bolsonaro could help lower trade barriers between the two biggest economies in the Americas.

"We're going to work on a free trade agreement with Brazil," Trump told reporters at the White House, without giving details.

Trump raised the possibility of a trade deal as U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross visited Sao Paulo to address business leaders ahead of a Wednesday meeting with Bolsonaro in Brasilia.

The United States and Brazil, which exchanged more than US$100 billion in goods and services last year, have drawn closer since Bolsonaro took office in January following the far-right former army captain's insurgent election campaign modeled after Trump's. He has tapped his son Eduardo Bolsonaro as ambassador in Washington.

"Brazil is a big trading partner. They charge us a lot of tariffs, but other than that we love the relationship," Trump told reporters, citing what he called his great relationship with Brazil and praising Bolsonaro.

Marcos Troyjo, Brazil's deputy economy minister for foreign trade, told Reuters his country has "ambitious" goals to facilitate trade and boost investment between the two countries, especially in infrastructure.

But Troyjo said any talks on tariffs would have to include Brazil's partners in the South American customs union Mercosur, which includes neighbors Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

The powerhouse farm sectors in Brazil and the United States have occasionally found themselves at odds, including a dispute over cotton subsidies resolved at the World Trade Organization in 2014.

The United States threatened steel and aluminum tariffs on Brazil and a number of other countries last year as part of Trump's "America First" agenda, before granting a permanent exemption to Brazil.

Ross is the first U.S. commerce secretary to visit Brazil since 2011. On Wednesday, he will meet with Bolsonaro and hold talks with Brazil's economy and infrastructure ministers, Paulo Guedes and Tarcisio Freitas.
Sources from the Brazilian government reveal that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro suggested U.S. President Donald Trump visit Argentina in order to back the re-election of President Mauricio Macri.