Rome (AP) – Donald Trump paid tribute to Pope Francis on Saturday, joining more than 50 heads of state and other VIPs at a pope's funeral, noting on various issues that he disagrees with him. Trump also held a brief meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Both the White House and Zelenskyy's office confirmed the meeting, the first face-to-face conversation between Trump and Ukrainian leaders, and the two, as well as U.S. Vice President JD Vance, argued at an Oval Office meeting in late February.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said the leaders “meet privately today and had a very productive discussion”, with more details coming. Zelenskyy spokesman Serhii Nykyforov said they met at St. Peter's Basilica for about 15 minutes and agreed to continue negotiations later Saturday. The team is working to organize follow-up conversations.
Trump arrived at the Vatican with his wife's first lady Melania Trump, sitting in the front row, not far from French President Emmanuel Macron, and participated in outdoor services.
Trump told reporters Friday that he flew to Rome and he would be having a funeral “out of respect”, who died Monday after a stroke at the age of 88.
Francis broadly disagrees with issues including immigration, regarding immigration and climate change. The relationship between the Pope and the U.S. president was cheated in their relationship early on. In 2016, Francis hinted at the time Trump and his campaign to “build a wall”, saying that anyone who built a wall to make immigrants “not Christians.” Trump said comments were “shameful”.
But after Francis’ death, the Republican president praised him as a “good guy” who “works hard” and “loves the world.” Trump also directed that in the honor of Francis, our flags were hung on the half-court ship of Francis Honor.
Trump had said several times before leaving Washington that he would meet with his peers “many” outside the funeral. But when he flew to Rome, he seemed to retreat.
“Frankly, when you attend the pope’s funeral, it’s a little disrespectful to have a meeting,” the president told reporters to accompany him on Air Force One. Still, Trump said: “I'll talk to people. I'll see a lot of people.”
Trump did not expect that Joe Biden, a Roman Catholic who attended his wife Jill, did not expect to interact with him. Biden sat in the back rows of Trump wearing his iconic pilot sunglasses, who said he didn't know his Democratic ex would be at the funeral. When asked if they met, Trump said: “This is not high on my list. It's not actually.”
Meanwhile, Trump caught the public attention because he wore a dark blue suit and a lighter blue tie in a miserable black outfit.
The pope's funeral is not one of the occasions that bring together the current and former U.S. presidents. Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush did not attend, their office said. A spokesman for former President Bill Clinton did not respond to an investigation into his plans.
When asked if he was just meeting with leaders or conducting more in-depth negotiations, Trump did not elaborate. He pointed out that his stay in Rome would be short.
“It's a little hard because we don't have much time,” he said. Trump arrived late Friday and was scheduled to return to the United States immediately after the funeral.
“I think we're going to try to see some people who are important in what we do,” Trump said, who is working to promote a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and to hold trade agreements with several countries.
Zelenskyy was immediately followed by his St. Peter's Basilica after he got the applause of the audience after he took Trump's seat.
Trump released the Truth Society shortly after arriving in Rome, and Ukraine and Russia should meet “very high negotiations” to end the bloody three-year war caused by the Russian invasion. His envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier Friday, and Trump said the two sides were “very close to the deal.” Putin did not attend the funeral.
Trump's meeting with Zelenskyy on Saturday was also released in Trump's clearest statement, yet to end the war with Ukraine's abandonment of Russian territory. “Crimea will stay in Russia,” he said in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday.
Russia occupied the strategic peninsula in 2014 in the Black Sea in southern Ukraine, years before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022. Zelenskyy hopes to regain Crimea and other Ukrainian territories captured by Russia, but this demand has become a prominent point for Trump.
“Everyone knows it's been a long time,” Trump said of Crimea in an interview at the White House on Tuesday.
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Associated Press reporter Volodymyr Yurchuk contributed to the report in Kiev, Ukraine.
