'I won't forget what you said!'
Trump meets the Pope at the Vatican for a private audience – and Melania wears a veil – as he completes his tour of the world's three great religions
- Trump was greeted by the Vatican secretary of state and whisked up an elevator to meet His Holiness in the 'little throne room'
- He and Pope Francis posed for photos and squared off across a desk in the private Papal study
- 'Thank you very much. This is such a great honor,' Trump said as he and Francis began their chat in the Pontiff's private study
- Later he greeted Melania Trump, who wore a traditional black veil, and asked her in Italian: 'What do you give him to eat?'
- Francis questioned Trump's Christianity last year after talking with Mexican officials about prospects for the Republican's promised border wall
- Trump fired back at the time that the Pontiff was 'disgraceful'
- But he was gracious on Wednesday, telling Francis: 'I won't forget what you said'
- Trump brought Francis a set of first-edition books by Martin Luther King Jr.; the Pope gave him a large medal in the shape of an olive tree – a peace emblem
The delegation who met with the Pope on Wednesday included Melania and Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, Chief of Oval office Operations Keith Schiller, State Department policy planning chief Brian Hooks, White House Director of Strategic Communications Hope Hicks and White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino
A lone American flag hung above the entryway to Pope Francis' apostolic palace in Vatican City on Wednesday as U.S. President Donald Trump arrived for the third leg of his tour of the world's great religions.
Trump met Pope Francis on the fifth day of his first foreign presidential trip, after visiting the cradles of Islam and Judaism.
While their discussion will remain private, the president had a brief message for Francis as he left: 'I won't forget what you said.'
'It's such an honor,' he said as he shook the Pontiff's hand and posed for photos in the Sala del Tronetto, the second-floor 'little throne room.'
'Thank you very much. This is such a great honor,' Trump was later heard saying as he and Francis sat across a desk from each other to begin their talks in his private study.
U.S. President Donald Trump has at long last met Pope Francis for a private audience at the Vatican
'I won't forget what you said,' Trupm told the Pontiff after the two emerged from their private meeting in the Pope's study
Fans of the president strained to see his motorcade pass on Wednesday along Viale della Conciliazione avenue, near St. Peter's Square in Vatican City
The delegation who met with the Pope on Wednesday included Melania and Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, Chief of Oval office Operations Keith Schiller, State Department policy planning chief Brian Hooks, White House Director of Strategic Communications Hope Hicks and White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino
The famously blunt-spoken Francis said nothing.
After they emerged from their talks, Francis was grinning from ear to ear as he met other members of the first family.
'What do you give him to eat?' he asked Melania Trump in Italian, referring to the president's hulking size. 'Potica?'
'Potica!' a delighted Melania responded, laughing. Potica is a Slovenian nut-roll dessert.
The Pope blessed a rosary in her hand before greeting Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other U.S. officials.
Melania followed the Papal meeting with a visit to a Vatican-owned children's hospital. She told Francis: 'I'm glad to visit the hospital – for the "bambinos".'
Ivanka's itinerary included meeting victims of human trafficking and host a roundtable with members of the Community of Sant'Egidio, a social justice-oriented anti-poverty group affiliated with the Catholic Church.
The Vatican praised Trump in a statement, saying that he and Francis spoke about their 'joint commitment in favor of life, and freedom of worship and conscience.'
But in a veiled slap at Trump's immigration policy, the Vatican added that the Pope would seek 'serene collaboration' on 'healthcare, education and assistance to immigrants.'
'We had a fantastic meeting,' Trump told reporters afterward. 'He is something. It was an honor to be with the Pope.'
The president ignored a question about whether he and the Pontiff had discussed global warming.
Pope Francis spent a half-hour with President Trump, and then spoke with the first couple
The Trumps and the Pope traded gifts after the Papal audience; Francis got a set of first-edition books by Martin Luther King Jr. and a sculpture of a lotus by artist Geoffrey Smith (left)
The Swiss Guard escorted Trump to an elevator for a quick ride upstairs to meet the Pope
The Trumps brought two gifts for the Pope, including a case of first-edition books by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
'I think you will enjoy them,' he said.
The president also gave him a bronze sculpture by Florida artist Geoffrey Smith, titled 'Rising Above,' in the shape of a flowering lotus.
Francis reciprocated with a large medal crafted by a Roman artist – an image of an olive tree, a symbol of peace.
'We can use peace,' Trump replied.
'I signed it personally for you,' Francis told him.
'Ooh,' Trump said. 'That's so beautiful.'
The president also promised to read copies of three Papal encyclicals that Francis gave him – one of which is his 'Laudato si,' a treatise about preserving the environment.
The other two concern family and the Gospels.
Ivanka Trump, the president's elder daughter, joined her stepmother in wearing a traditional veil to the Vatican
Melania got a greeting Wednesday from prefect of the papal household Georg Gaenswein
White House Director of Strategic Communications Hope Hicks (center) and White House Director of Social Media Dan Scavino (left) were part of the presidential entourage who got to meet the Pope
The president's arrival was a pomp-and-circumstance affair.
Stepping out of his armored SUV, known in the U.S. as 'The Beast,' he joined first lady Melania Trump entering the palace as a rank of Swiss Guards stood at attention.
'It's an honor and a great pleasure to receive you here in the Pope's palace,' prefect of the papal household Georg Gaenswein told the president as a phalanx of cameras captured the historic moment in the San Damaso courtyard.
'Thank you so much,' Trump replied.
Mrs. Trump was dressed in black and wearing a black lace veil over her hair, and got her own handshake from Gaenswein.
Ivanka Trump, too, wore a tulle veil. Her husband Jared Kushner joined the entourage along with Tillerson.
The veil, or mantilla, is traditionally worn by women as a sign of respect when meeting the Pope. Trump senior aide Hope Hicks wore one as well.
Trump and the Pope sat across a desk in the Pontiff's private study – the president all smiles and the Pontiff all caution – as they began their discussions on Wednesday
The president's armored SUV, known as 'The Beast,' motored past a rank of Swiss Guard in the San Damaso courtyard
Neither woman, however, wore a head scarf in Saudi Arabia over the weekend, despite the local custom of Muslim women wearing hijabs in public.
Catholic women worldwide typically wore mantillas to church until the 1950s.
Following a private tour of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica, the president went to the Quirinale Palace for a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Sergio Mattarella.
He entered the palace's courtyard to find an honor guard of 30 Italian military officers in full dress uniforms, complete with medals pinned to their chests.
With Melania and Ivanka at their own meetings, policy adviser Stephen Miller took a seat at a long conference table alongside Tillerson.
On Trump's other side sat Kushner and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.
In the Vatican courtyard on Wednesday, Trump walked a receiving line of 15 officials of the Gentlemen of His Holiness, an honor guard of nobility, stopping to make eye contact and shake hands each time.
As Trump and Francis talked, Melania, Ivanka and Jared sat in an anteroom, speaking with Gentlemen of His Holiness members and Gaenswein.
The president's quick in-and-out Rome visit completes his global monotheism hat trick as the unconventional Pontiff and the even more unpredictable president talked turkey.
The two men went toe-to-toe during the 2016 campaign season after Francis questioned candidate Trump's religious convictions, and the future president fired back an un-Christian putdown.
They were all smiles, however, as photographers and reporters chronicled every word, gesture and reaction.
Only when they disappeared into a Vatican inner sanctum – alone, save for a translator – did the rubber meet the strada.
First encounter: Trump's meeting with the blunt-spoken leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics came after their very public criticism of each other last year
On the ground: Trump arrived in Italy Tuesday with First Lady Melania Trump and was given a ceremonial welcome by Italian authorities
Vatican greeting: Senior clergy from the Vatican were on the tarmac in Rome to greet the president on Tuesday
Trump's Saudi stay was focused on galvanizing persuadable Muslim-majority nations around a common mission of stamping out the violent jihadism that persistently threatens to tar and feather their religion.
His closely watched appearances in Jerusalem and Bethlehem were calculated to showcase Trump's closeness with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – and his less Republican-like respect for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas – as bookended overture to a coming peace proposal.
But White House officials had been uncharacteristically mum about the president's goals for his meeting with the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
'He was invited by the Pope, and he's honored to go and meet the Pope. It's somebody he has a lot of respect for,' a senior administration official told reporters Tuesday aboard Air Force One.
The only hint at an agenda came when the official hopefully lumped Catholicism into an ecumenical anti-terror klatch – signaling that Trump may angle for Pope Francis to endorse his hard-line condemnation of suicide bombers.
'When you put it all together, you're really showing that this problem of radical extremism is one of the great problems of our time,' the official said.
'By putting everybody together you can really build a coalition and show that it's not a Muslim problem, it's not a Jewish problem, it's not a Catholic problem, it's not a Christian problem. It really is a world problem.'
In Israel on Tuesday, Trump denounced British Libyan terrorist Salman Abedi, who killed 22 people at a rock concert in Manchester, UK, as an 'evil loser.'
'I will call them from now on 'losers' because that's what they are. And we'll have more of them. But they're losers, just remember that,' he said, standing alongside Abbas at his West Bank presidential palace.
Francis was far more measured, not describing the attack as terrorism, nor noting that ISIS immediately claimed credit for the carnage.
'His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the injury and tragic loss of life caused by the barbaric attack in Manchester,' a telegram sent by the Vatican secretary
of state read, 'and he expresses his heartfelt solidarity with all those affected by this senseless act of violence.'
The Pontiff hasn't shied away from being more forceful in the past, and Trump has personally felt the sting of his verbal lash.
'A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,' Francis said then. The pontiff has been a vocal advocate for aiding refugees, particularly those fleeing the violence in Syria, deeming it both a 'moral imperative' and 'Christian duty' to help.
(The Mail, UK)
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