U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Rome on Friday to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, marking an unexpected and high-profile foreign trip early in his second term. Trump, joined by First Lady Melania Trump, will be among some 50 world leaders and 10 reigning monarchs at the Vatican on Saturday.
Despite having a distant relationship with the late pontiff — who had criticized Trump’s immigration policies — the president is expected to take center stage during the solemn event. Trump said he may have a brief encounter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, their first since a contentious February 28 White House meeting where Trump and Vice President JD Vance sharply criticized the Ukrainian leader.
However, Zelensky’s attendance remains uncertain following a deadly Russian strike on Kyiv.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he would also meet “some people,” possibly including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, but insisted that any meetings would be brief out of respect for the funeral. “Frankly, it’s a little disrespectful to have meetings when you’re at the funeral of the pope,” he said.
President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic and close ally of the late pope, will also attend the funeral, traveling separately from Trump. Unlike tradition, where former U.S. presidents typically share Air Force One for such occasions, Biden will fly independently — highlighting the deep political and personal rift between the two leaders.
Trump’s presence in Rome follows a period of tension with European allies after imposing sweeping tariffs, though he recently softened some of his harsher measures. French President Emmanuel Macron, outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are among the many global figures attending.
Leaders ideologically aligned with Trump, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Argentine President Javier Milei, will also be present.
Trump’s originally planned first foreign trip was to visit Gulf states — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE — in May, seeking business and diplomatic opportunities. However, he will be back in the U.S. briefly to celebrate First Lady Melania’s 55th birthday on Saturday, joking that although he hadn’t bought a present yet, he would “take her for dinner on Air Force One.”
