Trump designates Brazil a ‘major non-NATO ally’

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has designated Brazil a “major non-NATO ally,” making good on a pledge President Donald Trump made to Brazil’s leader in March.

The designation was announced by the White House and gives Brazil preferential access to American weaponry and military training for which other nations outside the alliance aren’t eligible.

The statement comes five months after Trump told Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro during a visit to Washington that he would take the step, putting Brazil in the same company as Japan, South Korea and Australia.

Bolsonaro ran an unabashedly pro-Trump, pro-American campaign last year. While Bolsonaro was in Washington, Trump said he’d be open to granting full NATO membership to Latin America’s largest and most populous nation, even though it doesn’t qualify to join the alliance.