{"id":2427776,"date":"2025-04-26T09:05:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T13:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-pays-his-respects-to-a-pope-who-publicly-and-pointedly-disagreed-with-him-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-04-26T09:08:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T13:08:43","slug":"trump-pays-his-respects-to-a-pope-who-publicly-and-pointedly-disagreed-with-him-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-pays-his-respects-to-a-pope-who-publicly-and-pointedly-disagreed-with-him-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump pays his respects to a pope who publicly and pointedly disagreed with him &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-pays-his-respects-to-a-pope-who-publicly-and-pointedly-disagreed-with-him-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2427776&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Former President Donald Trump attended the funeral of Pope Francis in rome, acknowledging the pontiff\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-unions-wielded-influence-in-2024-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"How unions wielded influence in 2024 - Washington Examiner\">critically important influence<\/a> despite their disagreements on various issues, such as immigration and climate change. Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania, was seated near other world leaders and expressed admiration for Francis, referring to him as a &#8220;good man&#8221; after his passing from a stroke at the age of 88.<\/p>\n<p>during the funeral, Trump had a brief, confirmed meeting wiht Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, marking their first direct conversation since a heated exchange earlier in the year. They <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">discussed ongoing negotiations related<\/a> to the war in Ukraine, with Trump emphasizing his stance on the territorial disputes linked to Crimea.<\/p>\n<p>While attending the funeral, Trump noted that it woudl be disrespectful to engage in extensive meetings, yet he planned to see several leaders informally. he returned to the U.S. shortly after the service, underlining that the occasion called for respect and reflection rather than political maneuvering. The funeral also saw the public&#8217;s attention drawn to the former president&#8217;s choice of attire, as he opted for a blue suit amidst a sea of black.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump pays his respects to a pope who publicly and pointedly disagreed with him<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2104430\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>ROME (AP) &mdash;<\/strong> President&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Donald Trump<\/a>&nbsp;on Saturday paid his respects to Pope Francis, joining more than 50 heads of state and other dignitaries at the funeral of a pontiff who pointedly disagreed with him on a variety of issues. Trump also had a brief meeting with Ukrainian President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Volodymyr-Zelensky\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Both the White House and Zelenskyy&rsquo;s office confirmed the meeting, the first face-to-face conversation between Trump and the Ukrainian leader since the two, along with U.S. Vice President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jd-vance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">JD Vance<\/a>, argued during a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/zelenskyy-security-guarantees-trump-meeting-washington-eebdf97b663c2cdc9e51fa346b09591d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">heated Oval Office meeting<\/a>&nbsp;in late February.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3392377\/instant-costs-delayed-benefits-problem-trump-tariff-goals\/\">Instant costs and delayed benefits are problem for Trump tariff goals<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3391982\/trump-gaza-aid-phone-call-benjamin-netanyahu-israel\/\">Trump signals concern for Palestinian suffering: &#8216;We&#8217;ve got to be good to Gaza&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3391852\/karoline-leavitt-trump-white-house-correspondents-dinner-media-criticism\/\">Leavitt says Trump has &#8216;revolutionized&#8217; the way a president communicates<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>White House communications director Steven Cheung said the leaders &ldquo;met privately today and had a very productive discussion&rdquo; and that more details would follow. Zelensky&rsquo;s spokesman, Serhii Nykyforov, said they met for about 15 minutes at St. Peter&rsquo;s Basilica and agreed to continue negotiations later Saturday. Teams were working to organize the follow-up conversation.<\/p>\n<p>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.<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-war-trump-putin-33015fe967ab7cd09fee165fed59953e\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-funeral-francis-vatican-7b3b3e6e194e7099e5463d1f23b5f3cf\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-putin-russia-ukraine-war-kyiv-fb61625d2dee8b1917bb3522e73c2166\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Trump told reporters on Friday as he flew to Rome that he was going to the funeral &ldquo;out of respect&rdquo; for the pontiff, who&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/pope-francis-what-to-know-7c2aa927cf142926f05654984aaa0d90\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">died Monday<\/a>&nbsp;after suffering&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/live\/pope-francis-dies-catholic-church-updates\">a <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/live\/pope-francis-dies-catholic-church-updates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">stroke<\/a>&nbsp;at the age of 88.<\/p>\n<p>Francis&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-pope-francis-funeral-catholics-relationship-a34cb1f8a6ceb147e2e112cb4e02e32c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">sharply disagreed with Trump&rsquo;s approach<\/a>&nbsp;on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congressional-hispanic-caucus-down-to-zero-staff-members\/\" title=\"Congressional Hispanic Caucus Down to Zero Staff Members\">issues including immigration<\/a>, 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 &ldquo;Build the wall,&rdquo; called anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/events-united-states-presidential-election-general-news-e7508c48a12348b89bf666d7bcb60366\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">not Christian<\/a>.&rdquo; Trump said the comment was &ldquo;disgraceful.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But after Francis&rsquo; death, the Republican president praised him as a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-tackles-nfl-rules-rather-than-politics-in-latest-podcast-appearance-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"... tackles NFL rules rather than politics in latest podcast appearance - Washington Examiner\">good man&#038;rdquo<\/a>; who &ldquo;worked hard&rdquo; and &ldquo;loved the world.&rdquo; Trump also directed that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/04\/honoring-the-memory-of-his-holiness-pope-francis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">U.S. flags be flown at half-staff<\/a>&nbsp;in Francis&rsquo; honor.<\/p>\n<p>Trump had said on a couple of occasions before leaving Washington that he would have &ldquo;a lot&rdquo; of meetings with counterparts on the sidelines of the funeral. But he seemed to back away from that as he flew to Rome.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Frankly, it&rsquo;s a little disrespectful to have meetings when you&rsquo;re at the funeral of a pope,&rdquo; the president told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One. Nonetheless, Trump said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be talking to people. I&rsquo;ll be seeing a lot of people.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>One person Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-biden-defector-emails-pipeline-to-obama-admin-seen-as-currency\/\" title=\"Hunter Biden Defector Emails: ...Pipeline... to Obama Admin Seen as ...Currency...\">didn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t expect to interact with is former President&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Joe Biden<\/a>, 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&rsquo;t know his Democratic predecessor would be at the funeral. Asked if they&rsquo;d meet, Trump said: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not high on my list. It&rsquo;s really not.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump, meanwhile, drew the public&rsquo;s attention for wearing a dark blue suit and a lighter blue tie in a sea of mournful black attire.<\/p>\n<p>The pope&rsquo;s funeral is not one of those occasions that bring together the current and former U.S. presidents. Former Presidents <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Barack-Obama\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Barack Obama<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/george-w-bush\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">George W. Bush<\/a> were not attending, their offices said. A spokesperson for former President Bill Clinton did not respond to an inquiry about his plans.<\/p>\n<p>Trump didn&rsquo;t elaborate when asked if he&rsquo;d just be meeting with leaders in passing or holding more in-depth talks. He noted that his stay in Rome would be short.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little tough because we don&rsquo;t have much time,&rdquo; he said. Trump arrived late Friday and was scheduled to head back to the United States immediately after the funeral.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think that we&rsquo;re going to try and see a couple of people that are important in what we&rsquo;re doing,&rdquo; said Trump, who is working to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and negotiate trade agreements with multiple countries.<\/p>\n<p>After Trump was shown to his seat for the funeral, he was immediately followed out of St. Peter&rsquo;s Basilica by Zelensky, who was met with a burst of applause from the audience.<\/p>\n<p>Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after arriving in Rome that Ukraine and Russia should&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-war-trump-putin-33015fe967ab7cd09fee165fed59953e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">meet for &ldquo;very high level talks&rdquo;<\/a>&nbsp;on ending the bloody three-year war sparked by Russia&rsquo;s invasion. His envoy, Steve Witkoff, had met earlier Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Trump said both sides were &ldquo;very close to a deal.&rdquo; Putin did not attend the funeral.<\/p>\n<p>Trump&rsquo;s meeting Saturday with Zelensky also came shortly after Trump issued his most definitive statement yet about the need for Ukraine to give up territory to Russia to bring the war to a close. He said in a Time magazine interview published Friday that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-war-trump-putin-33015fe967ab7cd09fee165fed59953e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">&ldquo;Crimea will stay with Russia.&rdquo;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3388519\/jd-vance-pope-francis-meeting-blessing-death-american-politics-trump-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">VANCE CALLS IT A &lsquo;BLESSING&rsquo; TO VISIT POPE FRANCIS SHORTLY BEFORE DEATH<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Russia&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/4be8a953902947ffb608bf663d61b8e9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">seized the strategic peninsula<\/a>&nbsp;along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine in 2014, years before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022. Zelensky wants to regain Crimea and other Ukrainian territory seized by Russia, but that demand has become a sticking point for Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Referring to Crimea during the interview, which was conducted at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said, &ldquo;everybody understands that it&rsquo;s been with them for a long time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2104430\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2104430\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump honors Pope Francis, who openly disagreed with him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":2427777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/donald-trump-pope-funeral.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[18192,9592,7269,3634,32076],"class_list":["post-2427776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-disagreement","tag-pope","tag-respect","tag-trump","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/donald-trump-pope-funeral.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2427776"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2427780,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427776\/revisions\/2427780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2427777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2427776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2427776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2427776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}