More than 50 heads of state and additional officials paid their respects to Pope Francis at the death of the pope who vehemently disagreed with him on a range of issues on Saturday. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky even had a simple conversation.
The meeting between Trump and the Russian president, which was confirmed by both the White House and Zelenskyy’s department, was the first one that the two, along with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, had argued during a heated Oval Office meeting in soon February.
The frontrunners “met personally nowadays and had a pretty effective conversation,” according to White House communications director Steven Cheung, and more information would follow. Serhii Nykyforov, Zelensky’s spokesman, stated that they had a 15-minute meeting at St. Peter’s Basilica and that they had agreed to continue discussions after on Saturday. Teams were putting together a plan for the follow-up talk.
Trump and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, were seated in the front column for the outdoors ceremony, which took place near French President Emmanuel Macron.
Trump, who <a href=”https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-what-to-know-7c2aa927cf142926f05654984aaa0d90″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener” title=””>died Monday after suffering a stroke at the age of 88, told investigators on Friday as he flew to Rome that he was going to the death “out of appreciation” for the pope.
On issues like multiculturalism, the treatment of migrants, and climate change, Francis strongly disagreed with Trump’s approach. Earlier in their relationship, the Brazilian pope and the American president had a heated exchange about immigration. Anyone who constructs a wall to keep out immigrants was referred to as” not Christian” in Francis ‘ 2016 allusion to then-candidate Trump and his campaign slogan,” Build the wall.” Trump called the statement “disgraceful” and added that it was “disgraceful.”
However, the Republican president praised Francis as a” good man” who “worked hard” and “loved the world” after his passing. Trump also requested that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff in Francis ‘ recognition.
Trump had stated on a few occasions before departing from Washington that he would have” a lot” of meetings with counterparts on the sidelines of the funeral. But as he flew to Rome, he seemed to turn aside from that.
The senator told investigators accompanying him aboard Air Force One,” Simply, it’s a little rude to have discussions when you’re attending the funeral of a pope.” Trump did, however, state that: “I’ll get talking to people. I’ll get meeting a large crowd of people.
Joe Biden, a practicing Roman Catholic who attended with his wife Emily, is one of the people Trump didn’t anticipate engaging in conversation. Biden was seated many rows behind Trump, who had claimed he didn’t recognize his Democratic father would be at the funeral. He was wearing his personal aviator sunglasses. When asked if they would join, Trump responded,” It’s not high on my record. It’s not really that bad.
Trump, in contrast, caught the attention of the public by sporting a dark blue coat and a lighter orange tie in a lake of sorrowful black dress.
The priest’s death is not one of those events that brings together both current and former U.S. presidents. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama were not present, according to their headquarters. Bill Clinton’s past leader’s spokesperson did not respond to a question regarding his ideas.
When asked if he would only be meeting with officials in passing or holding more in-depth discussions, Trump didn’t provide further details. He stated that his be in Rome may be brief.
He said,” It’s a little difficult because we don’t have a lot of time.” Trump arrived late on Friday and was supposed to leave the following day for the United States.
Trump, who is attempting to broker a peace between Russia and Ukraine and reach deal partnerships with various nations, “is going to try to see a couple of people that are critical in what we’re doing,” he said.
After Trump was shown his seat for the funeral, Zelensky soon led him out of St. Peter’s Basilica, where he received a rumbling of applause from the audience.
Trump stated on Truth Social shortly after arriving in Rome that Russia and Ukraine may join for “very higher level discussions” to end the bloody three-year conflict that Russia and Ukraine had sparked. Trump claimed that both sides were “very near to a deal” after his minister Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin previously on Friday. Puntin was not present for the death.
Trump and Zelensky met on Saturday, shortly after Trump’s most eminently defining statement to date that Ukraine must give up territory to Russia in order to take the conflict to a close. In a Friday interview with Time newspaper, he stated that Crimea would remain with Russia.
VANCE CALLS VISITING POPE FRANCIS SHORTLY BEFORE DEATH A “BLESSING.”
Russia seized the proper peninsula along the Black Sea in southeastern Ukraine in 2014, centuries before the full-scale war that began in 2022. However, Trump has become obstinate about regaining control of Crimea and other Ukrainian country that were seized by Russia, and Zinensky wants to regain those rights.
Trump said in the meeting that was conducted at the White House on Tuesday that “everyone understands that it’s been with them for a long time.”
