President Trump and the first lady Melania Trump respected Pope Francis before the pontiff funeral on Saturday morning.
The Trump arrived in Italy on Friday for the first international trip of their second term, and just in time for Melania’s 55th birthday, which also fell on Saturday.
“She has a operational birthday,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday.
“I will take her to dinner at the Boeing,” Trump joked when asked how they would celebrate. “I will take her to dinner on Air Force One.”
Before heading to Rome, Trump praised the late Pontiff as a “good man” who “loved the world.”
“I thought he was a fantastic child,” Trump said.
Trump and Francis had previously entered immigration. In 2016, Pope Francis called for Plans For Mass Deportations a “misfortune.”
Read more about the death of Pope Francis
The president and the first lady sat together with the United States delegation between Ethiopia and Eswatini, previously known as Swazilandia, due to the Vatican protocol that organizes world leaders in alphabetical order according to the name of their country in French.
The delegation included representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Tom Suazzi (Dn.y.), Laura Gillen (Dn.y.) and Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Oill.) And Edward Markey (D-Mass.).
Former President Joe Biden attended the funeral along with his wife Jill Biden.
Several other world leaders gathered at the funeral, including the United Kingdom Prime Minister Kier Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodyymyr Zensky.
