ROME (AP) 鈥� President on Saturday paid his respects to , occupying a front-row seat in sunlit St. Peter's Square as more than 50 heads of state and other dignitaries attended the funeral of the Catholic Church leader who pointedly disagreed with the American on a variety of issues.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump were seated next to Estonian President Alar Karis and not far from French President Emmanuel Macron for the outdoor service on a cloudless morning.
Diplomacy also was on Trump's agenda during his eight-hour visit to Italy: Trump had a with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inside St. Peter's Basilica before the service. Photos showed them seated on chairs facing one another in a marbled room and hunched over.
After Trump was shown to his seat for the funeral, he was immediately followed out of the basilica by Zelenskyy, who was met with a burst of applause from the audience. It was their first face-to-face encounter since they argued during a in late February. Trump has been trying to broker an end to that began in February 2022 when Russia invaded.
Trump stood out at the funeral service in a dark blue suit and a lighter blue tie in a sea of mournful black attire. The first lady, who is Catholic, wore a black dress and veil. Trump considers himself a 鈥渘ondenominational Christian.鈥� The couple paid respects to the late pope in front of his wooden coffin.
During the service, the Trumps held hands at times and the president kissed his wife on the cheek during the Sign of Peace. They also visited with Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York while at the Vatican.
Trump told reporters on Friday as he flew to Rome that he was going to the funeral 鈥渙ut of respect鈥� for Francis, who at age 88.
Francis on issues including immigration, the treatment of migrants and climate change. The Argentine pontiff and the American president sparred early in their relationship over immigration. In 2016, Francis, alluding to then-candidate Trump and his campaign slogan of "build the wall," called anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants 鈥� .鈥� Trump said the comment was 鈥渄isgraceful.鈥�
But after Francis' death, the Republican president praised him as a 鈥済ood man鈥� who 鈥渨orked hard鈥� and 鈥渓oved the world.鈥� Trump also described the pope as a 鈥渇antastic kind of guy.鈥�
Seated a few rows back behind the Trumps at the funeral service were former Democratic President , a practicing Catholic, and his wife, Jill. When Trump was asked earlier if he would meet his predecessor while in Italy, he told reporters: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not high on my list. It鈥檚 really not.鈥�
Trump had spoken in recent days about holding multiple meetings with world leaders while in Rome but that did not appear to pan out during his brief visit. Trump arrived late Friday and was en route back to the United States immediately after the funeral.
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Associated Press journalist Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
Darlene Superville, The Associated Press
