President Trump Meets with Pope Francis in First Part of European Visit

Donald Trump, President of the United States, met and held talks with Pope Francis, the leader of Catholics worldwide, at the Vatican on Wednesday during the first part of his inaugural trip to Europe in this capacity.

No details of the meeting content were released, but President Trump is expected to discuss religious extremism in this meeting as well, similar to his meetings with Muslim and Jewish leaders in Saudi Arabia and Israel.

According to the Associated Press, after the conclusion of the half-hour private meeting, the American president thanked his host and said to him, “I will not forget what you said.”

Following an ancient tradition, the two sides also exchanged gifts with each other.

Pope Francis gifted a medal bearing an olive branch, a symbol of peace, and President Trump presented several volumes of books authored by Martin Luther King Jr., saying “I think you will enjoy reading them.”

Donald Trump is the thirteenth sitting President of the United States to visit the Vatican. First Lady Melania, his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner accompanied President Trump to the Vatican.

This is the first face-to-face meeting between Donald Trump and Pope Francis, during which they had disagreed on various matters before the start of his presidency—such as dealing with illegal immigrants and climate change.

The leader of Catholics worldwide had criticized Donald Trump last year during the U.S. presidential election campaign in November over his promise to build a wall along the shared borders between the United States and Mexico.

The Argentine Pope had stated at that time that anyone who thinks of building a wall instead of building a bridge is “not Christian,” and Mr. Trump had responded by calling the Pope’s remarks “disgraceful.”

After meeting with the American president, the Pope began his weekly address to the people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, and President Trump went on to meet with Italy’s president and prime minister in Rome.

President Trump is then scheduled to travel to Belgium to attend Thursday’s NATO leaders summit. He will return to Italy on Friday to attend the G7 leaders summit in Sicily.

Donald Trump, at the beginning of his first foreign trip as President of the United States, entered Saudi Arabia on Saturday morning, then went to Israel and on Tuesday evening headed to Rome, the capital of Italy.

Source: Voice of America