Brazil's supreme court caught off guard by order to arrest Bolsonaro, sources say
"It doesn't change our approach in the slightest," said the justice, who asked not to be named to discuss the matter candidly.
The Lula administration is planning policies to support industries likely to be hardest hit by Trump's tariffs and to keep diplomatic channels open with Washington, said the political sources.
The Moraes move could create obstacles for the Brazilian negotiators, said Fabio Medina Osorio, Brazil's former attorney general.
"The decision can certainly make things difficult," he said.
The supreme court is expected to hand down a verdict within weeks on the charges that Bolsonaro and his allies plotted to overthrow democracy. It is widely expected to convict the former president.
Moraes' house arrest order cited a failure to comply with restraining orders he had imposed on Bolsonaro for allegedly courting Trump's interference in the case.
While domestically Moraes has received praise by some for defending Brazil's judicial independence, others have accused him of overreach. The latest order drew mixed reactions, according to a Quaest poll based on social media posts, with 53% in favour and 47% against the arrest.
Newspapers that had written scathing editorials about the alliance between Bolsonaro and Trump also questioned Moraes' decisions.
"Moraes was wrong to order the arrest of the former president for communicating with supporters in a rally organised by the right," an editorial by Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo said.
"Brazil must acknowledge Jair Bolsonaro has broad freedom to defend himself in court and to express himself wherever he chooses, including on social media."
Former supreme court justices also offered different views regarding the decision.
"Alexandre de Moraes, in his ruling, not only upholds the country's sovereignty and independence but also the autonomy of Brazil's judiciary," said Carlos Ayres Britto, who left the supreme court bench in 2012.
Former justice Marco Aurelio Mello disagreed: "My perspective would be different given the constitutional principle of presumed innocence."
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