ROME (AP) 鈥� President on Saturday was among more than 50 heads of state and other dignitaries attending the , where he paid his respects to the Roman Catholic leader who pointedly disagreed with him on a variety of issues.
Trump also met briefly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the service, both the White House and Zelenskyy's office confirmed. White House communications director Steven Cheung said they 鈥渕et privately today and had a very productive discussion" and that more details would follow.
Trump arrived at the Vatican with his wife, first lady Melania Trump, and was seated in the front row, not far from French President Emmanuel Macron, for the outdoor service.
Trump told reporters on Friday as he flew to Rome that he was going to the funeral 鈥渙ut of respect鈥� for the pontiff, who after suffering at the age of 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 directed that in Francis' honor.
Trump had said on a couple of occasions before leaving Washington that he would have 鈥渁 lot鈥� of meetings with counterparts on the sidelines of the funeral. But he seemed to back away from that as he flew to Rome.
鈥淔rankly, it's a little disrespectful to have meetings when you're at the funeral of a pope,鈥� the president told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One. Nonetheless, Trump said: 鈥淚'll be talking to people. I'll be seeing a lot of people.鈥�
The leaders of France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Hungary and Argentina are among those who attended.
One person Trump didn't expect to interact with is former President , a practicing Roman Catholic who attended with his wife, Jill. Biden, wearing his signature aviator sunglasses was seated several rows behind Trump, who had said he didn't know his Democratic predecessor would be at the funeral. Asked if they'd meet, Trump said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not high on my list. It鈥檚 really not.鈥�
The pope's funeral is not one of those occasions that bring together the current and former U.S. presidents. Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush were not attending, their offices said. A spokesperson for former President Bill Clinton did not respond to an inquiry about his plans.
Trump didn't elaborate when asked if he鈥檇 just be meeting with leaders in passing or holding more in-depth talks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a little tough because we don鈥檛 have much time," Trump said, noting his late arrival in Rome on Friday. He was scheduled to head back to the United States immediately after the funeral.
鈥淚 think that we鈥檙e going to try and see a couple of people that are important in what we鈥檙e doing," said Trump, who is trying to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and negotiate trade agreements with multiple countries.
After Trump was shown to his seat for the funeral, he was immediately followed out of St. Peter's Basilica by Zelenskyy, who was greeted with a burst of applause from the audience.
Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after arriving in Rome that Ukraine and Russia should on ending the bloody three-year war sparked by Russia's invasion. His envoy, Steve Witkoff, had met earlier Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Trump said both sides were 鈥渧ery close to a deal.鈥� Putin did not attend the funeral.
Darlene Superville, The Associated Press
