President Donald Trump and the first lady Melania Trump have left the United States to Italy, where they will attend the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday morning.
The president and the first lady left aboard Air Force One from the Joint Andrews base in mid -morning. Just before addressing Marine One, who took the Trump to the joint base of Andrews, the president spoke with journalists about the trip, noting that he would meet with many world leaders there.
“We are going to Rome to present respect, and we will leave that same day,” Trump said. “We will return home tomorrow night and I will see some of you there. Otherwise, I will see us on television.”
He said a moment before he would meet with many world leaders in Italy.
“We will meet with many foreign leaders. They want to meet,” Trump said. “The trade agreements are going very well. I think Russia and Ukraine, I think they come, we hope, very fragile. And I will, I think, go very well. We will see what happens.”
Duration A press conference from the Oval office along with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Thursday, a journalist asked Trump to plan to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zenskyy. Trump said he wasn’t sure if Zelensky would be attending the funeral.
File/President of the United States Donald Trump and his wife Melania with Pope Francis duration of a private audience in the Vatican on May 24, 2017. (Maurix/Gamma-Rapho through Getty Images)
“I don’t know that it goes to the funeral or not, but I just hope it solves it,” he said.
He New York Times reported Monday that Zelesnkky will be present.
Special sent to the Middle East Steve Witkoff with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday when the Trump administration seeks to end the war.
Other current and previous world leaders who attended the Pontiff’s funeral include former President Joe Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden, to the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, to the British Prime Minister Kier Starmer, the French president Emmanuel Macron and the Argentine President President President Times.
When a journalist asked the late Pontiff on the South grass, Trump said: “Very good.”
“I loved the world, real, and it was a good man. I with his twice. I thought he was a fantastic child of a boy,” he added.
