"US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked if Brazil's Lula da Silva could 'mediate' between Donald Trump and Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, as he spoke with the press in DC on Friday. "I'm just not going to comment on what the president has available to him as options across the range of options that include diplomatic options," he said. "You know, the President's had two phone conversations and one meeting with President Lula. I think we've made progress on some things, including on trade. We have more work to be done. The two Presidents got along. We felt that was important in terms of those conversations," he added. The two described a recent call as 'productive' but clashed this year over Trump's 50 per cent tariffs, and the prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro - which the US leader criticised. Lula slammed 'interference' in his country's judicial processes."