President Donald Trump joined the assembled mourners outside the St. Peter Basilica, who flew overnight to Italy for Pope Francis’ funeral.
World leaders joined the faithful senior church and crowds in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday morning, ahead of Pope Francis’ funeral. US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania spent a moment to pay respects when they arrived at the foot of the Pope’s co.
Overall, around 200,000 people are expected to crowd the Vatican today for funerals.
President Trump flew overnight in Air Force 1 from Washington and landed around midnight (1800 ET) in Italy. Upon arriving in Europe, President Trump gathered for a funeral where a focus on political business, where world leaders in Rome would likely predict an ad-hoc bilateral meeting that includes the Ukrainian peace process. Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to attend the funeral, but Ukrainian Volodymir Zelensky was shown in his seat just before President Trump.
It has been suggested that after the funeral, the two will hold a direct meeting after the funeral, between differences of opinion about how the peace agreement works and whether they are possible.
President Trump wrote in the truth last night, “We’ve just landed in Rome. A good day at meetings and meetings between Russia and Ukraine. They’re very close to the deal, and both sides should meet to “finish it” at a very high level. Most of the main points agree.
