Washington, March 20 (RHC)-- U.S. President Donald Trump says he is “very strongly” considering NATO membership for Brazil or some other formal alliance with the Latin American country as he hosts his far-right counterpart in Washington.  Trump made the announcement in a joint news conference at the White House with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday.

“As I told President Bolsonaro, I also intend to designate Brazil as a major non-NATO ally or even possibly, if you start thinking about it, a NATO ally.  We have to talk to a lot of people, but maybe a NATO ally, which will greatly advance security and cooperation between our countries,” Trump said.

"We are going to look at that very, very strongly in terms of whether it's NATO or it's something having to do with alliance.  But we have a great alliance with Brazil, better than we have ever had before," he added.

Trump also stressed that Washington would be looking forward to expanding bilateral ties with Brasilia, saying the U.S. will soon finalize an agreement with Brazil to conduct space launches from the South American Country.

Bolsonaro is an avid admirer of Trump and his policies, particularly those with regard to opposing anti-imperialist governments in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.  The Brazilian president -- who is also known as “Tropical Trump” -- has sparked controversy by following Trump on calling for the relocation of his country’s embassy to the occupied city of East Jerusalem.